


Lost and Found

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Drama, Fluff, Memory Loss, Multi, Post SBURB, Romance, feds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-30
Updated: 2014-03-14
Packaged: 2017-10-25 02:41:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 25,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/270834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Upon finishing Sburb/grub the survivors are given an option for what will happen next. However their choice isn't what they thought it was. Five years later Karkat and John meet up again, but what happens when one doesn't remember the other at all?<br/>Starts off fluffy, but drama interrupts that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Which a Story Begins

**Author's Note:**

> This is mostly a John/Karkat fic  
> If you don't like this fandom, don't read this fanfic.  
> Simple as that.
> 
> *Edit* I started writing this back in september, before EoA5, and the Alpha kids, and Scratch's death. I'm going back to change things so they make more sense now, but please take that information into account when reading.

They stood in front of the door, the ones who were left anyway. They were battered and bloody, breathing heavily as they stared at the person before them. Doc Scratch, in his white suit, his freaky cue-ball head shining in the Alternian sun. If he'd had a mouth he would have been smiling for sure.

Karkat Vantas was the first to act, he was the leader, it was his job to look like he knew what he was doing, even if he faked it. He bared his fangs at the servant of Lord English, frustrated by what he'd gone through, the things he'd seen, the friends he'd lost. His scowl faltered for a bit. No, he wasn't going to think about the feelings threatening his sanity, not now. But for the briefest instant an image flashed into his head, a boy sprawled on the battlefield, his blue clothes stained with crimson blood. His stomach did a little flip-flop before he pushed the image out of his head entirely.

"Hey, fuckass!" The troll yelled at Scratch, failing to keep his anger under control. "This is it right! The game ends here! We've won!"

Scratch didn't respond, he just stood still with his hands behind his back. This only added to Karkat's anger.

"What happens fucking now? Tell me that, you fucking idiotic cue-ball!"

"What happens now?" Doc Scratch replied. "You collect your prize of course, and everything goes back to normal. Just like you wanted, right?"

Surprisingly, Terezi spoke up, but Karkat knew she felt the same way he did. "And what if we don't want everything to go back to normal? We can't simply go on living our lives like nothing happened, like their sacrifice was for nothing!"

Sacrifice, the word felt heavy on his tongue, and left a bitter taste in his mouth. Was that all they had been in the game to do? To give up their lives only to have everyone forget them?

"Oh? Well there is always another option, but either way, one world will be destroyed, the other reset. You would have no memory of what happened in this game, and-"

"No." Karkat surprised himself by saying that. "That's not right, why does one world have to be destroyed if we won?"

"Because that's simply the way it works. But if you think that's unfair, you can take the second option, although I think it won't be as pleasant as you think it will be. You can pick which planet to save and it will become your new home, your memories will not be erased, but the other will be destroyed. Now make your choice."

The troll looked around at his friends, his fellow trolls who had helped him get this far, what was the best choice for them? His eyes fixed on Terezi, who was looking at him with an expression he'd never seen on her face. He then saw that the rest of them looked the same, battered and guilty. They'd all thought that winning the game would make everything right again, but now, they weren't so sure.

Karkat took a deep breath and returned his attention to Scratch. He had no idea if this was the right choice, but something inside him told him it was. He glanced around at his friends one last time before opening his mouth.

"I've made my decision."

________________________________________________________________________

John Egbert gazed at the ceiling as he tried to fall asleep. His mind wouldn't stop wandering, and now that he'd stopped taking his medication it took hours before he finally dozed off. He'd always been a weird kid, with buckteeth and large glasses and an interest in movies nobody really liked. He and his friends Rose, Dave, and Jade got along fine though, but the rest of the world seemed to treat them strangely. This got worse when they were all thirteen, and their guardians had died in some freak accident nobody could explain, or just didn't bother to. This led to the four kids being sent off to a boarding school, so lodging and education would be taken care of until they finished high school. But now that they had all graduated they were on their own, and lonelier than ever.

John's apartment was small but comfortable, decorated with movie posters like he'd done as a child. He worked as a waiter at a nearby restaurant, making enough to live a reasonably comfortable life if he didn't mind having to stand for long periods of time and occasionally getting yelled at by drunk or rude customers.

However, tonight he had worked in the morning, and wasn't very tired. He didn't have work tomorrow, so he could probably get away with doing something else for a bit until he actually thought he could fall asleep. He flirted with the idea of watching Con Air, but decided against it because watching Nic Cage always got him excited, and then he would never get to sleep.

John glanced out the window, for being so late it was still nice out, the stars were clearly visible in the sky, and he made up his mind to go out for a walk. He climbed out of bed and put on a thick blue hoodie and boots, not even bothering to change out of his pajamas. On his way out of the room John glanced in his mirror.

Through the years he'd decided to change himself, in an attempt to fill some of the feeling of emptiness he'd had since his father's death. He'd gotten braces, which had helped get his overbite fixed to an extent, then two years ago he had bought contacts, although he wasn't wearing them now, and the reaction he'd received from Jade convinced him it was a good idea. Then, over the summer he'd decided to get some blue streaks in his bangs. The owner of the restaurant hadn't been too happy but let him stay on the staff because John was so reliable. Looking at himself now he could almost pretend that the scrawny, dorky kid he'd used to be never existed. Except after his nightmares.

The night air was cold and felt good on John's face, he pulled his hood up over his head, shoved his hands into his pockets and started walking, no destination in his mind yet. He tried not to think about his nightmares, but he couldn't help it. He'd been having them ever since that accident, he didn't know why, but he did. At school the nurse had given him that medication because he woke up screaming so often. But now that he was on his own he thought he should find out what the nightmares meant, because counselors, doctors, therapists and even Rose hadn't found out yet.

In his dreams he was on another planet, with Dave, Rose, and Jade. It had started our as them just playing a game, but it soon got out of control. Meteors fell, fires burned the land, and there was nothing they could do to stop it. Then, a monster appeared, a horrible black thing with the head of a dog, wings, and a sword through its chest, which it used to kill them. John saw himself die so many times in his dreams, but he would always come back and be killed in a worse way. That was when he would usually wake up screaming.

Crack! John looked down at his feet and saw he'd stepped on a tree branch, he'd been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't really noticed where he was going. However, he knew where he was, he'd been to this park many times before, never this late at night though. He stepped off the broken branch and noticed that there were many similar branches on the ground near him, as though they had been hit by something. Looking up he saw that a part of the tree was damaged, limbs dangling by a few inches of bark, leaves scattered all around. What had happened here?

He stepped forward, hearing the cracks as wood broke under his feet. Farther into the park was a hole in the ground, like a crater, and another one was a few feet in front of it. Then, it was as if a shovel had carved out the earth into a line, and up ahead he could see the outline of something large.

John increased his pace, hurrying towards the object feeling something he hadn't felt in years, excitement. As he drew closer the thing became clearer, it was the wreckage of some metal thing, a spaceship maybe? He'd wondered if they existed of course, but never really expected to find out for himself. But now he was going to.

The thing was seriously smashed up, bits of metal littered the ground in a thirty foot radius, and the ship seemed to have broken in half, revealing a small cockpit, and, if he wasn't imagining it, a creature inside. It was still strapped into its chair, which was now upside-down, and even in the faint moonlight John could see it was hurt.

He approached the ship cautiously, hoping that it wasn't radioactive, and stood in front of the alien. John had never seen anything like this creature before, it was humanoid in shape, but its skin was a dark gray and it's eyes were closed, like it was asleep. Its black hair was long-ish, probably, around chin length, and he could see its open mouth had fangs and his fingers ended in claws. Its gray forehead had a cut in it, and red blood poured out of it into its hair and onto the ground. John didn't know much about aliens, but he figured that losing that much blood wasn't good for anyone.

The straps holding the creature in had to be cut with his pocket knife, but he finally got it free of the ship and onto the ground. It was wearing a suit made of some black high-tech material, and on its chest something was embroidered, but John couldn't make out what it said because it was not written in English. Also, since its hair was now no longer hiding the top of its head, it was easy to see the two horns visible there. They were orange and nubby, smaller than he would have expected horns to be, but cool nonetheless.

John looked at the alien nervously, it's chest was rising and falling slowly, so it was definitely alive, but the fact it was still unconscious unnerved him. What was he supposed to do now?

"Um, hello?" His voice was shaky. "Can you hear me at all?"

To his surprise, the creature seemed to react to his voice, twitching slightly. John came closer so he was kneeling right next to where it lay.

"Do you know what I'm saying?" He asked it.

The alien's eyes fluttered open, blearily fixed on John's face. John tried and failed to suppress a gasp. The eyes looking at him were yellow, with a gray iris and a large, dark pupil. They were frightening, and yet somewhat familiar to him. Then the creature did something John would have never expected in a million years.

It said his name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, I'm Ms.Monochrome, no relation to Ms.Paint, sorry, and I'm the writer of this fic.  
> Um, I actually started this around a month ago, I just had to wait for my invite.  
> As of now there are six chapters available, and I'm working on the seventh one... soon, I recently got back from a mini-con with a Homestuck photoshoot. Karkat kept pulling on my GodTier! hood and saying "EGBERT FUCK MY HOT BUTT!" It was very distracting.
> 
> Oh, yeah, story, umm, I'll explain more in the next chapter.  
> Feel free to ask questions or add suggestions or stuff!  
> Monochrome out!  
> **Edit, for a picture of what I think John looks like, go to this page! http://ms-monochrome.tumblr.com/post/16319602744/johnsketch


	2. In Which a Plot Point is Revealed

John didn't understand what was going on. The alien couldn't possibly know his name, he'd never met an alien before, so... Unless, the alien was someone he'd talked to online! On pesterchum or something, but that still didn't make sense since he didn't give out his picture on there. He was too paranoid to do that.

Then what was going on here? The creature's eyes had closed again, so it probably couldn't see him staring at it, but it still felt wrong somehow. Then it hit him, the alien was probably speaking some foreign language John didn't understand, and what he'd thought was his name was probably some other word.

He started to stand up but the alien's hand reached out to grab his wrist. John hadn't thought it had the strength to do that, but within a few seconds the hand went slack. Those yellow eyes opened and focused on him again. "John," it said, more urgently this time. "Must... find... him."

Well that settled it. This alien definitely spoke English, but he was obviously talking about some John that was not the one hovering above him. The act of saying four words had drained whatever energy the creature had, and it was unconscious once more.

What should he do now, John wondered. He'd discovered an injured alien who was looking for someone with the same name as him, and knew absolutely nothing else. He was slightly tempted to just leave the creature there and pretend he'd never seen him, but one glance at the alien's injured form made that impossible. John was a nice guy, Dave always made fun of him for that, but now was not the time to worry about whether his friend would think him stupid. The creature's blood was still seeping into the ground, the cut had started to clot, but loosing more blood was probably a bad idea.

Thankful for the darkness hiding him from the watching eyes of other people, John took off his hoodie, then the t-shirt under it before putting the sweatshirt back on. The few seconds he'd been exposed to the cold made his teeth chatter. Using his pocketknife again, John cut the shirt into strips, trying not to think of how much he liked it, and attempted to bandage the alien's head. It wasn't much, but it was all he could do in a place like this.

Then John picked up the creature, noting that it was a lot lighter than he'd expected it to be, and carried it, in his arms the whole way back to his apartment.

____________________________________

Karkat woke up in a room he didn't recognize, with whitewashed walls decorated in posters for movies he didn't recognize. He was lying on a bed, he'd seen them in the human's world before, did that mean he'd made it? His memories of the previous day were foggy, and his head ached with every beat of his pumping organ. What had happened? He remembered that he'd requested to go ahead of the rest of the group, to make sure that this planet was safe, he'd gotten into the smaller ship, and it had been doing fine until it entered the atmosphere, everything after that was a blank.

Except for one thing, he remembered meeting someone, after the ship had landed he recalled someone removing him from the wreckage, bandaging his head, trying to communicate with him. He'd been in such a bad state that he had hardly been able to move, but he had grabbed that person's wrist, told him how he needed to find his friend, and then blacked out.

So, where was he now? It looked like some human's respiteblock, did it belong to whoever had found him? The troll turned his head and noticed the slumped form of a person, a human male, who was fast asleep in a chair nearby. He had messy black hair streaked with blue, like Eridan's, except there were multiple streaks, not one in the middle. His mouth hung open, revealing slightly larger-than-normal front teeth, a pair of glasses with thick black frames had gone askew while he slept, and he was dressed in pajama bottoms and a blue hoodie. Karkat sincerely hoped he wasn't dreaming.

He lifted a hand to his forehead and found it bandaged with some sort of cloth, had he gotten hurt? Then he looked at his hand to find it stained with dry blood, his freakish blood. Someone had seen his blood color. But this wasn't Alternia anymore, Alternia no longer existed; so should he even worry about that anymore?

His head throbbed, and he groaned without meaning to. The human stirred, his blue eyes fluttering open, causing Karkat's chest to tighten. He knew those eyes from long ago. Could the person before him possibly be John? He hadn't seen his friend in ages, nearly three sweeps, and then he had been dead, killed by Jack Noir, and Karkat had had to watch while unable to do a thing.

That had been the worst part, knowing he could have saved John if he'd tried, but that hadn't been the plan. The four humans had decided to charge at Jack all together, distracting him so the trolls could finish him when his guard was down. Even though they knew full well that they would probably lose their lives. Before they had attacked, John had taken one final look at Karkat, and there was fear in those blue eyes.

Then he had died, and they were able to kill the horrible thing once and for all, winning the game, but at what cost? Just thinking about it made the troll's breathing tube constrict and brought tears to his eyes, which he blinked away rapidly. If the human before him was in fact John, he didn't want their first meeting in ages to start with him crying.

The human adjusted his glasses before standing up and walking over to where Karkat lay, gog, he was so tall now, so, mature looking. He felt his cheeks start to redden, which sucked, but he couldn't do much about that.

"Are you feeling better?" The blue eyed human asked kindly, smiling slightly. "You lost a lot of blood."

Karkat nodded, his throat too tight for speech, not daring to believe this was real.

"Oh, uh, I guess I should probably introduce myself, it must feel weird waking up in some stranger's apartment. I'm John Egbert, I'm eighteen, and um, I found you unconscious in a park."

This was John! His John, the one he'd fought with all those sweeps ago. Karkat hadn't been sure that the human would even be alive when he got here, but now here he was crouching next to him, with that same derpy smile on his face that the troll had seen so many times. He resisted the urge to smile himself, if only just barely.

But, wait... If this was John, how come he didn't recognize his old friend? Just what had happened while they had been apart?

"Karkat Vantas, nine solar sweeps old, from the planet Alternia." He said, sitting up slowly on the bed.

"Car-cat? That's an interesting name." The human grinned, but the troll didn't feel reassured by this. John didn't remember his name. That was not something he thought could happen, and he felt his stomach constrict.

"John," Karkat spoke slowly, afraid of the answer he might receive. "You don't remember me?"

John frowned, and his forehead scrunched up like he was thinking hard. Finally he sighed. "I'm really sorry, but I don't recall meeting someone like you before. If we ever talked on pesterchum, well, I'd be more likely to remember your chumhandle than your name or face."

"I'm CarcinoGenesist." He said dully, his pumping organ sinking in his chest, and even before the human replied with, "Sorry, doesn't ring a bell." Karkat knew his answer.

John didn't remember him, he didn't remember Karkat at all. The troll recalled what Doc Scratch had said to them when they'd won the game, "You can take the second option, although I think it won't be as pleasant as you think it will be." This had been what the irritating cue ball had been talking about, but Karkat didn't believe that his friend had forgotten everything that had happened.

"How about your friends, that irritating guy who raps, the girl who thinks she's all powerful, and the girl with the dog?"

John looked taken aback, his eyes widening from surprise. "Wait, who are you- oh! You mean Dave, Rose, and Jade! You know them? When did this happen? They never told me they were friends with an alien!"

"I'm not an alien you moron, I'm a troll. That is what creatures like me are called. As for knowing your weirdo friends, well, we played a game a while ago, you did too. The four of you, and my, erm, well, the other trolls and I had to work together to finish it. But I see you've forgotten-" Karkat heard the human make a grunting noise in his throat, and turned to see him clutching his head, his teeth gritted in pain.

"John! Oh gog, are you ok?"

The human fell sideways, curling into a ball while still cradling his head in his hands. Karkat slid off the bed and knelt at his side, resting one hand on his shoulder as he spoke. "John, John, can you hear me? Gog fucking damn it John! You are not fucking dying on me again!"

A moan escaped from John's lips before he went limp. The troll felt his wrist for a pulse, being as gentle as he could be so as to not hurt the fragile human with his claws. There it was, faster than it probably should be, but strong. Karkat breathed a sigh of relief, he wasn't going to lose John right now. And not in the near future either, he would make sure of that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And those are the first two chapters! 8B   
> If you didn't like them, thanks for at least giving them a try  
> If you liked them, there will be more   
> I was somewhat inspired by Invasion Force, but I wanted to change it somewhat, have the guardians not there, add more angst, etc.  
> And add fluffernutter :D


	3. In Which Past Events are Shown

John had a dream he'd never dreamed before. That was saying something since he'd had nightmares almost every night since he was thirteen, and they were usually variations of the same thing. However, this dream was different. He was still playing that game, yes, but it was not one where he died, at least, it wasn't so far. Instead he was on a hill, a dry, dusty gray hill that overlooked nothing but more dull gray land. But he wasn't alone, nor were any of his friends there. He was sitting next to a gray-skinned, orange-horned creature, and for some reason he felt more comfortable with it by his side than he'd ever had with any of his other friends.

"So," John heard himself speak, but he wasn't aware of moving his mouth. "Are all sunsets on Alternia like this?"

The voice of whoever was sitting next to him was gravelly, and although his tone sounded angry John knew he wasn't. "How should I know dumbass? Trolls are nocturnal, we don't watch the sun set that often. Have you ever watched the sun rise on your planet?"

"Well, no actually. You do have a point there Karkat. I keep forgetting how different our species are." He stood up and stretched, then straightened out the long hood of his GodTier outfit, which was always getting in the way of things. "Hey, Karkat?" The heir asked, his cheeks reddening slightly.

"What?" The troll replied grumpily, folding his arms over his chest.

"Have you ever flown before?" John gazed at the sky, where the sun had only just started to sink underneath the horizon. Streaks of reds, pinks, and purples were visible in the clouds, like someone had painted them there. It was an amazing thing to see.

"No, I'm not GodTier yet John. Did your miniscule human brain forget or something?"

"I know that, but I figured someone else might have-"

"No, I've never flown and I'm fine with it."

"Oh." John looked at his feet sheepishly. "I was going to ask you if you wanted to fly with me, since you haven't yet. But I guess I shouldn't anymore."

Now it was Karkat's turn to blush. "I didn't mean, I wasn't saying I didn't want to. It's just, I was okay with the fact I hadn't flown yet. It wasn't bothering me or anything, that's all I meant."

John smiled as he looked at the troll's back. Karkat didn't realize just how cute he could be at times. "Now's a pretty good time to try, doncha think?"

The troll looked over his shoulder at where John was standing, that goofy grin he always wore whenever they were together plastered on the human's face. "Now? Why now?"

"Well, everything in this game is so random, it's impossible to know if we'll ever get the chance to hang out like this again?"

Karkat blushed, which John took to mean, "Oh, yeah, that would really suck." He held out his hand to the troll, who reluctantly took it in his own. "Um, we need to get a little closer, I, er have an easier time controlling it if there's less surface area. If you even understand what that means." If Karkat didn't, John couldn't tell. They slowly closed the distance between them until their noses were only an inch away from each other. John could see his face reflected in Karkat's yellow eyes and noticed his cheeks were a color that would cause Terezi to start licking them like crazy.

The heir wrapped his arms around the troll's torso, and willed himself to not freak out. He took a deep breath and did the windy thing, willing the air to lift them off the ground. They rose, slowly and gently, one foot off the ground, two feet off the ground, as they continued to go higher. Karkat wrapped his own arms around John, his fingers digging into the human's back.

"Karkat, are you scared?" John couldn't help laughing a bit. "You know I'm not going to drop you right?"

"Shut the fuck up you nooksucker, I am not some stupid wriggler, so stop thinking that. I am simply unnerved by how high we are off the ground, that's all."

"Are you afraid of heights or something? It's not something to be ashamed of, y'know."

"I am not even close to being afraid right now, shut up and concentrate on keeping us airborne."

"If you aren't scared would you mind loosening your grip on me a bit? Your claws, um, are hurting me."

"Fuck no."

John's prankster side came out, he caught sight of the troll's main base and took his arm off Karkat so he could point at it. "Wow! Look how small it seems from up here! Can you believe it?"

Unsurprisingly, Karkat tightened his grip around John, his face showed his true emotions for a few seconds before changing back to his usual grumpy expression. "Gog fucking jegus John! What the fuck are you doing!"

"Geez, I'm just messing with you, I wouldn't let you fall." The heir gently kissed one of the cancer's nubby horns, causing the troll to blush even more than he already was.

"Don't do that ever again! It was fucking freaky okay? I swear to gog if you do that again I am going to, um, seriously-" However, Karkat didn't get to finish because John had stopped kissing his horn and moved on to his mouth. They had kissed a few times before now, but they were always quick things, this was longer, and the fact that they were flying, that they were holding each other closely, that the normally dull Alternian landscape was changed by the setting of the sun, made everything better. It was a moment he thought he'd never forget.

_________________________________

But somehow John had forgotten that time so many years ago, and all his other memories from the game as well. He woke up on the floor of his apartment, his body drenched in sweat and his head pounding. His hand was warm, and when he turned to see the reason for it he was surprised to see the troll he'd been dreaming about, the one he'd found in the park, not remembering just how much they had meant to each other. His gray face was scrunched into a look of worry, and he was clutching John's hand with both of his own clawed ones.

"Kar-kat?" He mumbled weakly, flashing a small smile. "Hey, what's up?"

The cancer's expression changed into one that was halfway between irritation and relief. "You're the one who collapsed dumbass. Be more worried about yourself."

"Sorry, force of habit. Next time I faint I'll do the right thing." John sat up shakily and leaned up against the bed frame, Karkat moved so he was sitting beside him, their fingers still entwined.

"Gog," The troll stuttered. "What happened? Did you hit your head or something? You humans are so fucking fragile."

"Normally I'd make a joke like 'no I just get migraines when trolls show up,' but I feel so terrible I can't." He took a shaky breath before continuing. "I'm a horrible person Karkat, I'm so sorry. I got one of my memories back, but everything else is a blank, it hurts to try and think about what's supposed to be there." The human rubbed his temple with the ball of his free hand.

"What did you see?"

"The day we watched the sun set on Alternia, then we flew together. I don't even really remember what Alternia is, but I think you mentioned it when you were introducing yourself. But I know about what happened that day." His cheeks reddened. "But that's it. I can't recall anything else from that game."

"It's something." Karkat said, closing the distance between them so John could rest his head on the troll's shoulder. "It's definitely something."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I just posted the second chapter and this already has ten hits.  
> Wacky.  
> My original writings get that much attention in a month at the least.  
> Should I be feeling as loved as I do?  
> AND I GOT A KUDOS! WHAT IS THIS?


	4. In Which More Characters are Added

A few hours later the two of them woke up due to the sun's rays nearly blinding them. Karkat was the first to react. Cursing and holding up his hand to block the light he managed to close the curtains of the window facing them.

"Fucking brightness, how do you humans stand it?"

John smiled tiredly and reached for his glasses. "Well, that's what the curtains are for. Sorry, I forgot to shut them last night."

"It's alright, but isn't it annoying sometimes?"

"Yeah, but we have ways of making it less annoying. But forget about how stupid the planet is, did you get some sleep?"

The troll sat back down next to John on the edge of the bed. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I did. What about you?"

"I slept pretty well actually," He replied, wrapping an arm around Karkat's thin shoulders. "No nightmares for once."

"You've been having nightmares?" Karkat asked, leaning against the human's body. He seemed to be completely unaware that one of his horns was poking John in the cheek, and John was too nice to mention it.

"They're not that bad." He lied, not wanting to worry his friend. "After what happened yesterday I'm starting to think they may be some lost memories trying to surface."

"Really? What do you see?"

John explained what he'd dreamed about for the past five or so years. The horrible dog-headed monster who slaughtered himself along with his friends. As he was talking Karkat drew away from his friend, his face whitening and his jaw tensing.

"What's wrong? Does your cut hurt again?"

He shook his head, which did, in fact, hurt, but he wouldn't mention that to John. Karkat felt awful, out of all the memories the human could have retained, it had to be Jack Noir and their final battle with him. Prior to that day John had already died twice at Jack's hands, but during that fight he died several more times, some of them in gruesome ways. To only remember his death, not the good things that had happened while playing sburb, it must have been awful. Especially if he didn't know what the dreams actually were.

"It's nothing. Do you remember anything else? Anything else about the game?"

John closed his eyes and pressed a fist to his head, apparently deep in thought. "Um, I remember green light, a land where the ground was this weird checkerboard pattern, some imps, I think I saw my nanna a few times, and, uh, my dad." He opened his eyes without removing his hand. "Wait, I remember seeing him together with Rose's mom, on top of this castle thing, only, they were, I think they were dead. And Rose was all weird-looking and-"

Karkat cut John off by placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's ok. You don't have to remember if you don't want to."

John looked up at the troll, his eyes starting to tear up. "Karkat, I think that was how my dad died. I know that our guardians died when we were all thirteen, but none of us remembered how it happened. Nobody could explain it to us, so we just thought it was some freak accident, but now I know. It was that guy right? That black creature that killed me, right?"

"I don't really understand what happened to your guardians, I wasn't there to see it. At that time I had to deal with my own problems. But I'd hazard a guess that yes, Jack Noir probably killed most of them. He was a fucking crazy guy." Now it was Karkat's turn to wrap his arm against John and pull him close. "That guy, Jack, I think he had no goal besides causing a shitload of chaos. It's all over now John, he's gone and he'll never come back. I know full well what it's like to lose a guardian, although I was technically at fault for that, but it still hurts. Um, I'm really bad at this comforting thing aren't I?"

"Not as bad as you used to be. I think you would just yell at me to shut up and get over it." He gave a weak smile and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "I'm sorry, I overreacted. It just was weird I guess, finding out what happened after I'd already gotten used to the idea of not knowing. I shouldn't have done that."

"Anyway Karkat, I thought of this last night but didn't want to bring it up. What's up with the rest of your troll buddies? You were alone in that spaceship, so were there other ones and should you contact them or something?"

The troll straightened up as if he had been poked with a pin. "Fuck, I completely forgot. That's embarrassing."

"Well, you did hit your head last night, and you found me, so it's not too hard to believe you might have had trouble remembering. You might want to do that now though, they might be worried. Should I leave or something?"

"No, stay. They may want to talk to you as well. Lets just hope they don't say anything stupid."

"Honestly, "I think it's more likely I do. My nickname is still Egderp, if that says anything."

Karkat pulled back the sleeve of his suit and revealed a sort of wristwatch-communicator around his wrist. He pressed a couple of buttons on it and the screen lit up and showed a small view of a room. Apparently someone on the troll's end saw that they were being contacted and sat down in front of the screen to receive the message. He had gray skin and black hair like Karkat, but his eyes were hidden by some kind of sunglasses, one lens red, the other blue. He had two sets of horns on his head and spoke with a noticeable lisp.

"Jeguth KK, what the fuck happened to you? When you thaid you were going to thcope out the planet we didn't think you would get knocked out for a day!"

"Sollux, it's just a cut, relax. The ship didn't react well with the dense atmosphere of this planet and a crashed on impact, which resulted in me being knocked unconscious and hurting my head. That's it."

"Did anyone thee you while you were jutht lying there? Where the hell are you now? It lookth like you're indoorth."

Karkat looked awkward for a few seconds, during which he glanced at John. He was wondering just how to explain what happened, when the human shoved his face in front of the troll's"

"Yeah! I found him and brought him back to my place. Wacky coincidence, don't you think?"

"Woah, ith that JN over there? Jeguth, that'th lucky. If anyone elth had found him, thingth could've been bad."

"Yeah, but they aren't, ok?" Karkat said, shoving John away so he could see the communicator screen. "Bottom line, I made it here safe. What now?"

"Well, if you jutht left the thip there, won't thomebody find it? We have no way of knowing what the humanth are going to think upon finding that. Ith probably betht to wait a little bit more until we have thome more info."

"That sounds like a good plan, we'll gather some info on our end for you guys!" John wormed his way into the picture again, so cheerful it was unnatural to Karkat. "It shouldn't be too hard, especially for me!"

"Stop interrupting moron. This is important."

"Actually KK, JN doeth have a place in thith. He played the game with all of uth, he could eathily help uth."

"Look Sollux, the thing is," The troll looked at the human warily. "John doesn't remember most of what happened in that session. He didn't even know who I was until I explained a few things, and then he passed out. I'm not sure how much we can rely on him."

Sollux looked confused. "Theriouthly? How did that happen? I mean, I know we weren't thure you guyth would thtill be alive. But we all pretty much figured you would remember thtuff if you were."

"It's hazy." John said, his cheeks reddening. "I remember fragments, and what I've seen in dreams, but it hurts to try and remember things. I'm sorry."

"Don't be like that JN. I mean, if you hadn't been the one to find KK we don't know what might have happened. Tho cheer up and-"

"Oh my cod! Is that John on screen? Hi John! It's been aa-ges!" A new troll wormed her way on screen. Her dark hair was long and wavy, and she had a gold band across her forehead along with goggles covering her eyes. At either side of her face were what could be gills, fanlike and delicate looking, and her horns were only a few inches long and rounded on top, like Karkat's. "It's so swell to sea you!"

"Um, hi there," The human replied, unable to remember her name, although her face looked familiar. "What's up?"

"Nothing really, everyone's just glubbing along as usual, oh and Sollux here got in another fight with Eridan today, Kanaya and I had to break it up."

"I would have won." The sunglasses-wearing troll muttered.

"But really John, it's so good to see you, I know Karkat must be happy, he was so crabby after the game ended it was just awkward. That reminds me, Vriska will reely want to sea you as well, she was your patron troll after all." She vanished from the screen and Karkat spoke up.

"That's Feferi, she and Eridan are sea-dwellers, Kanaya a bit of a meddler, but she's alright. Vriska was your moirail, you sorta kept each other in check throughout the game."

A few minutes later the troll called Feferi returned with another troll in tow. This one had long wavy black hair as well, but her horns were mismatched, one bent over at the top while the other split and formed a c-shape in the same spot. She wore glasses, and an outfit similar to what John had worn in his dream, a bright orange t-shirt with a yellow sun on it, an orange hood through which her horns poked through. "Hey John! Long time no seeeeeeee! Still obsessed with con-air?"

"Yeah, I am. Uh, good to see you again."

The sudden appearance of one troll the night before hadn't been that hard to take, but this... finding out he had lost his memories of such important events and seeing people who obviously had missed him, and knowing that he didn't recognize most of them, well, it hurt. John felt awful about it, despite the fact that he couldn't help having forgotten them, he still felt like it was his fault. He wanted to go away, hide from these people who he hadn't spared a thought for all these years. But could he actually do that?

Karkat seemed to notice that something was up with the human and decided to cut their conversation short. "Vriska, we really don't have time to catch up on stuff right now. I just was checking up with you guys to tell you I got here semi-safely and all that shit. Bye now." He turned the communicator off and turned to John, whose front teeth were digging into his lip.

"Are you okay?" The troll asked, placing a clawed hand on his shoulder. "Sorry, that must have been weird for you."

"Karkat?" John asked, his voice shaky. "Why can't I remember anyone? I see their faces and I feel like I should know, and that they seem familiar, but I can't even remember their names? They all seem so happy to see me, but I don't know why, and it feels terrible." His eyes were watering again, but he blinked the tears away. "Sorry to do this to you again, but, it just feels like a huge chunk of my past was erased from my mind, and everyone else remembers, and... and it just sucks."

The troll thought back to that day all those sweeps ago when he had been forced to make his decision on just what to do for their prize. Hadn't Doc Scratch mentioned something about memories being erased? But he said that Karkat and his friends wouldn't lose their memories, so did that mean that John and his friends had been forced to lose theirs?

"It's okay John. I'll just have to help you remember what happened, and if that doesn't work we can always make new memories. Alright?"

"Yeah, that sounds good to me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I first started posting this story on FF.net this was the last chapter I had finished  
> Now two more are done  
> I feel accomplished


	5. In Which the Author is Forced to Use HTML Stuff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -edit-  
> I'll work on the HTML stuff later, you guys will have to deal with non-colored text for now. Hope the plot is enough to compensate for that.

Dave Strider was someone who wasn't easily surprised by things in life, so when the pesterchum app on his phone showed a message from John talking about having an alien in his bedroom, he passed it off as one of his friend's nightmares affecting him. It wouldn't wave been the first time the guy had been confused by them. Ever since the four of them had lost their guardians it seemed like something was wrong in the world, and Dave noticed most of all.

Something had changed all of their lives forever that day, but what? They all seemed to have forgotten something important, and they all felt the effects of it. John seemed to have been affected most of all; he was the only one who had nightmares at the very least. In boarding school, the two of them had been roomies, and it had been Dave who had to deal with his friend's screams and coax him back to reality. Once John had started taking the medication to get rid of them he had been able to sleep through the night, but he was more out of touch with the rest of the world than normal. The cool kid felt bad though, he wished he could have been of more use to his bro, but that was life.

He typed his response lazily.

TG: aliens?  
TG: did you have one of your nightmares again bro  
TG: you know how they affect you  
TG: do you need to talk about it  
EB: i didn't have any nightmares tonight dave  
EB: i didn't fall asleep yet  
EB: i couldn't get to sleep so i took a walk  
EB: and there was this crashed spaceship in the park  
EB: and when i got near it there was this alien inside it  
TG: are you sure you didnt fall asleep  
EB: of course i didn't  
EB: he was hurt when i found him  
EB: so i brought him back to my place  
EB: i'll send you a picture  
EctoBiologist sent thealien.jpg to TurntechGodhead  
EB: there you go  
TG: it looks like you picked up someone from a nerd convention  
TG: probably was dressed as a klingon or something  
TG: maybe it was an actor and you interrupted a movie shoot  
EB: he knew my name dave  
EB: and it's not makeup  
EB: his skin is naturally gray  
EB: and he has horns  
EB: yellow eyes  
EB: and claws and fangs  
TG: woah  
TG: you have an alien for a stalker bro  
TG: you let him into your house?  
EB: i had to  
EB: his head was cut really badly  
TG: look bro  
TG: if he really is an alien  
TG: what if he goes all psycho on you  
TG: you could be cut badly  
TG: ripped isnt always a good thingbr />  
EB: look  
EB: he's too weak to hurt me  
EB: i'll be sure to be on guard though  
EB: just so you can sleep at nigh  
EB: speaking of which  
EB: i'm going to try and get some sleep now  
EB: night  
TG: night bro

Dave tossed his phone onto his bed and sighed. So John had really found an alien? What did that mean? For some reason he didn't feel weirded out about this interesting fact. To be honest, he felt like he'd been waiting for this to happen somehow. Like he'd expected it to happen.

Then, his phone buzzed again, and when he looked to see who was pestering him he didn't recognize the person's chumhandle.

GC: H3Y D4V3  
GC: DO YOU R34LLY NOT R3M3B3R M3? :[

John wasn't sure he'd ever be able to explain just how he spent the remainder of the day with Karkat. The only thing he knew for sure was that he was really thankful he didn't have work until the next day. Things would probably be a whole lot harder if he had to leave his long-lost troll buddy alone for a day after they'd just reunited. He wondered how he was going to break the news to the troll when the time came.

He sat on the couch in his living room, his head tilted towards the ceiling as he thought. His memory was still so foggy. Fragments came to him, a name or a face, but mostly there was a whole lot of nothing where his past should have been. He knew that Karkat (who reluctantly agreed to let John try and sort things out and was currently sitting on John's bed) was bothered by it, even though he pretended he wasn't. The troll obviously had strong feelings for him, red feelings, he suddenly recalled, that was what they were called, wasn't it? Anyway, Karkat had liked him, and their time apart had probably only intensified his feelings, since he hadn't really let John out of his sight except so he could go to the bathroom. Knowing that the human had been unable to recognize or remember him at first had to have hurt a lot.

John didn't know how he felt towards Karkat. The few memories he had were of happy times with the troll, deeply personal moments that caused his stomach to twist painfully when he thought of them. Just what did these feelings mean? He hadn't really had feelings for anyone in years, he just didn't feel a connection with anyone in school, but it wasn't their fault, it was his. John felt like there was a distance between most people and himself, something nobody but his friends could understand. He'd chalked it all up to grief, but now he wasn't so sure.

Last night, and this morning too, he had felt comforted by Karkat's presence, troubled by how worried he was about John's memory loss, and, and what? When the troll had wrapped his arm around John's shoulder, the human hadn't wanted him to stop. But, did that make him a homosexual? Did trolls even have homosexuality? He felt like the topic had come up once, but he couldn't recall what was said, and once again cursed whatever force had taken his memories from him.

He shook his head slowly, deciding that whatever happened, happened, and there was no point in trying to sort his thoughts off when he was missing most of the facts. He got up stretched, and walked over to his open bedroom door.

"Want some breakfast?" He asked Karkat, leaning up against the doorframe and smiling. "I'm guessing you're hungry, right?"

The troll looked up at John anxiously, his yellow eyes open wide. "What?" He asked awkwardly.

"Food, want some?" The human said, walking over to the bed and pulling Karkat to his feet. "C'mon, sitting around does nothing, lets do something together."

John dragged the troll into the kitchen, still grinning stupidly. "So, what do trolls eat? What do you like to eat?"

"I really don't care, whatever you like is fine." Karkat said, attempting to conceal his feelings in apathy.

"Pancakes it is. Wanna help me make them?"

The next half hour was spent measuring out pancake mix, cracking eggs, an generally making a mess of John's kitchen, oh, and laughing, lots and lots of laughing. When they had finally finished cooking and sat down to eat, the two of them had mix in their hair and batter on their clothes, but they didn't really mind.

Karkat had been thoroughly interested in the process, especially in the eggs, which he called "deceptive gooey bombs" after dropping one on the floor. He also broke them, crumbling the shell because he pressed too hard, which made John laugh, and the troll swear. However, when it was time to eat them, his mood improved.

"What is this?" He asked, holding a bottle of syrup upside-down and staring at it.

"It's syrup, you add it on top for flavor. Here, I'll do it." The human took the bottle, popped it open, and poured some of the golden liquid onto Karkat's plate, then his own. The troll, who had never eaten with a fork or a knife ever, ripped some of the pancake off, dipped it in the syrup, and ate it.

"Blegh! That is way too sweet!" He said, grimacing and gulping down water. "How can you stand that stuff?"

"I dunno. Maybe it's a human thing. You can eat it plain though, you should like that better. I'll make something less sweet tomorrow."

Karkat smiled slowly, which surprised John. His cheeks got warm, but he really didn't mind. His stomach tightened as he braced himself, trying to work up the courage to ask a serious question.

"Um, I don't know if this is the right time to bring this up, but I have to know." He took a deep breath. "Just, just what were we to each other? I, I tried to remember, I really, really, really did, but, I just… I just can't. Bits of memories are coming back, and they make my chest hurt and, I just wish I could understand what I'm feeling right now."

The troll looked at the human sitting across from him, his face red, his eyes fixed on his plate. Karkat had known that this might happen ever since he'd learned that John had lost his memories, but the sight of him, confused. and scared, and who knew what else, made him sad.

"We were close, not at first, but, well, once we met in person we were. We didn't really have a name for it. In my culture we could have been called matesprits, but you humans had a different word for it, so we just decided not to put a title on it. You said that it meant that we wouldn't be confined to-"

"The flaws of normal relationships. I did say that didn't I?"

There was a pause while Karkat stared at John, wondering what had just happened. "You did, does this mean-?"

"More is coming back to me. It feels like you're helping me by reminding me of what happened. I can picture our first conversations together, on my end and on yours, heh, I was so stupid. I also remember when we first met in person." He glanced up at the troll, smiling again. "I think that was the first time I realized that I liked you, that I had red feelings for you."

Karkat's gray cheeks gained the tiniest hint of red in them, and he avoided looking into John's eyes. "I'd seen and talked to you before, but never in the same place, and when we actually met face to face… It was just different."

John stood up from the table and strode over to behind where Karkat was sitting and embraced him. "Hey Karkat?" He said into the troll's hair.

"Yeah?"

"I think I love you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally mastered HTML crap
> 
> ==> Insert comments from FF.net  
> Also, I should mention that it is my headcanon that at the ages they're at right now, John is taller than Karkat by like, 2 inches max. Not a huge amount, but it's there.
> 
> And the first part with Dave happened before Karkat woke up and introduced himself. That's why John calls him an alien. Just clearing some stuff up here.
> 
> Also, I hope I have made it so you can never see pancakes in the same way again, they are now filled with adorable sweet JohnKat thoughts forever. I know that's how it is for me.
> 
> Um, I'm really tired, so I'm gonna go to bed now
> 
> Enjoy, tell me what you think, or suggest some stuff that may happen.
> 
> Ms. Monochrome signing out~


	6. In Which There is Lots of Fluff

"What do you mean you have to work tomorrow? What does that even mean?"

The two of them had been in the middle of watching a movie together, Karkat, now dressed in human clothes, curled up in John's arms, when the human had brought the subject up.

"Look, it's not something I can get out of, so don't get pouty." John said, placing a kiss on the troll's forehead. "If I don't work, I can't earn money, and then I won't have a place to live, or food to eat, and neither would you."

"Yeah, but, I just found you after so long, so-"

"So be grateful that I didn't have to work today. I know I am."

"Fine, how long will you be gone?" Karkat said, his gray cheeks flushing.

"I work from 5 PM to 10 PM. Seeing as you're nocturnal that shouldn't be too bad for you. I'll be getting back when you get up. You'll get to see me in my work clothes."

"What do you even do? Can you tell me that?"

"Of course I can tell you that, I just figured you wouldn't be interested. I thought something like my boring job wasn't important enough to mention."

"I care." said Karkat, turning to face John. "I haven't seen you in sweeps, so I want to know just what has happened while we were apart."

"Wow Karkat!" John exclaimed, clapping his hands to his face in surprise. "You really have matured, haven't you? You're much more open about your feelings now"

Instead of growling or swearing, which were things the troll would normally do as a response, he sat there quietly, avoiding his friend's gaze. "John, I really, really missed you. I know you might not remember what happened right before the game ended, but, well… You and your friends decided to give up your lives so we could finish Jack Noir off, I did get to say goodbye to you, but, not in a way I wanted to. After everything had ended we didn't know for sure what happened to you guys, and, well, it hurt a lot."

John looked at the gray face of his friend and his chest tightened uncomfortably. He leaned forward and embraced the troll, the act of which forced Karkat onto his back.

"It's ok Karkat." John whispered into his ear. "I'm here now. We're together, alright? I won't leave you again."

The troll felt tears burn in his eyes, but he made no attempt to hold them back. He allowed the red drops to run down his cheeks, because they were tears of joy, not sadness.

"I just missed you so fucking much, you have no fucking idea."

"Then I'll just have to reassure you that I'm here." John kissed the troll's horn slowly, which made Karkat moan a little, before moving on to his mouth. The two of them had kissed before, in the game obviously, but this time it was different, they were older, and the time they had been apart seemed to have only intensified their feelings for each other. Even John, who was slowly gaining bits of his memory back, could feel just how much he had missed Karkat.

The kisses were sweet and much desired, just the two of them, enveloped in each others arms, not needing anything else. However, after several minutes of this had gone by Karkat spoke up. "Um, John? Did you notice that we're floating?"

It was true, they were hovering about six inches off the couch, and the human hadn't noticed. "Wow, how did that happen?"

"You're doing this Egbert, you're the Heir of Breath, remember? Didn't you remember the day we flew together?"

"I do, I just, I just had no idea I could do this outside of the game."

"Maybe your powers are coming back with your memory? How the fuck should I know?"

"And it just so happens I really don't care right now." John replied, getting back to making out.

_______________________________________

The two of them slept wrapped in each other's arms. Even Karkat slept, because even if he tried to hide it, his head wound did make him tired. Even when John got up at ten the next day, the troll was still asleep, and he did his best not to wake his friend up.

He made scrambled eggs and bacon for the two of them, and placed Karkat's portion under a bowl to keep it warm. He had a hard time remembering exactly how trolls functioned, but he'd make sure to find out. Maybe the reason why the troll was so tired had something to do with how little he normally slept, hadn't he been a sorta insomniac in the game as well? When was the last time he actually got to sleep for more than a few hours?

After he finished eating and washing his dishes John headed back into the bedroom and watched his friend sleep. Gog, Karkat looked so cute when he was sleeping; his brow wasn't furrowed like it was when he was awake, and he looked years, or sweeps in his terms, younger. More carefree somehow. He was hugging John's pillow like it was its owner, and making small snuffing noises. Adorable.

The human changed out of his pajamas and into normal clothes, his shirt bore the green slime ghost that had been so popular years ago, but he was the only one who still wore it now. Then his phone started buzzing where he'd left it on the dresser. It was Dave, and he seemed ticked judging by the number of messages he'd sent.

TG: egbert  
TG: dude pick up  
TG: this is serious  
TG: even more serious than the time i spilled juice on my computer the day before that dumb essay was due  
TG: what a waste of apple juice  
TG: c'mon egderp, i know you're there  
TG: pick up your dumb phone  
EB: dave!  
EB: sorry dude, i just woke up  
EB: what do you need to talk about?  
TG: its about that alien you found  
TG: one contacted me yesterday  
TG: it was this blind chick  
TG: she said she knew me  
TG: and even though i dont remember her at all  
TG: i feel like i should  
TG: do you know anything about that  
EB: i think her name's terezi, she's a troll  
TG: what the fuck are you talking about  
EB: that's her species, the guy i found yesterday is a troll too  
TG: wait, do you know these guys  
TG: you talk like you do  
EB: well, we all knew them years ago  
EB: we played a game together  
EB: but we all forgot what happened when it ended  
TG: bro  
TG: youre making my head hurt  
TG: speak english please  
EB: you, rose, jade, and i played this game together when we were 13  
EB: and there were these trolls that played too  
EB: but once it ended we forgot all about it  
EB: even though it was the reason our guardians died  
EB: …  
EB: dave?  
EB: are you still there?  
EB: hello?  
TG: ugh  
TG: shut up  
TG: the more you say  
TG: the more my head hurts  
TG: that name you mentioned  
TG: terezi, or whatever it was  
TG: it seems like i should know who she is  
TG: and i  
TurntechGodhead is now an idle chum.

John put down his phone and recalled what had happened when Karkat had first reminded him of what happened; his head had started hurting and he'd passed out. Was that what was happening to Dave? If so, he felt guilty, he never wanted to make his bro hurt. Then again, he really couldn't help what had happened.

From behind him came a grunting noise and he turned around to see Karkat stirring. "Hey there!" He said cheerfully, giving the troll a smile. "Did you sleep well?"

The only response was a string of garbled syllables as he struggled to sit up in bed, one gray hand rubbing his eyes. He blearily glanced around the room until he focused on John, who was leaning up against his dresser.

"I have no idea what that means, so I'll wait until you wake up a bit more to ask again." He walked over to where the troll sat and ruffled its hair before accidentally running his fingers across the bandaged cut, causing him to wince. "Sorry, I guess I should take a look at that. You'll feel better once it's cleaned up a bit."

John helped Karkat to his feet and led him towards the bathroom where he unwrapped the wound to see how it was doing. The bleeding had stopped, but it definitely needed to be washed out, the human got out a washcloth, wet it, and started to clean the cut.

The troll let out a groan of pain and clenched his teeth together. "Sorry, I'm being as gentle as I can. You're lucky this isn't too deep though, you guys are build more sturdily than we are." With his free hand he held Karkat's clawed one, just to show he was there. "When I was bandaging this up the first time it was night, so there's some dirt and stuff I missed, but I'll get it out now."

When the cut was clean John put antiseptic on it and wrapped it up again, smiling while doing so. Then, when it was all done, he leaned in close and placed a kiss on the fresh bandages. "There, all better now!"

Karkat leaned in to kiss John but ended up accidentally pushing him into the bathroom wall. However, the human did not do anything to draw attention away from what was going on. They kissed for several minutes, both sinking to their knees, before he pulled away, and while still smiling, said, "I guess you're awake now."

The troll seemed to like eating eggs plain, rather than in pancakes, maybe he just preferred things in their natural state or something? John really didn't care now, all he really wanted to do was talk with Karkat, try and remember more things, and tell him what had been going on in his life. Then he paused, looking at John intently, like the human had something on his face. "Where did your glasses go?" He finally asked, sounding confused.

"Oh, I'm not wearing them today, I have contacts in."

"Contacts? What the fuck are those?"

"Um, they're things I put on my eyes so I don't have to wear glasses. I started using them years ago, but I forgot to yesterday. Do you not like them?"

"No, I mean, I like them, it's just you look different without them. I was surprised, that's all."

John raised an eyebrow, grinning mischievously. "Do I look gooood? Do I look haaandsome?" He teased, stretching out his words annoyingly.

The troll began to blush. "No, you, you look, fuck, what's your word for it? Cute? Is that it?"

"I don't know, that's sort of a girly term. Is that how you see me?"

"You're not the most manly human out there Egbert. Plus gender really doesn't matter to trolls, alright?"

"Aww, at least say I'm hot or something. Leave me a little dignity."

"Nah, I don't think I will."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ==> End fanfic chapter abruptly
> 
> Sorry, I just had to cut this off here or it would just continue fluffily along and not have a plot. I was actually supposed to have news-watching in there, but, um, yeah, other stuff happened.
> 
> If you didn't want lots of fluffy fluff, I am extremely sorry and feel free to talk to my inner shipper about it, she cannot be controlled.
> 
> I promise to have plot development in the next chapter. The trolls should get here in the chapter after that.
> 
> ~MsMonochrome


	7. In Which a Conflict Appears

The reporter seemed to not know all the details about just what she was covering. Her eyebrows were furrowed together in confusion as she stood before the wreckage in the park, the cameraman trying to avoid getting other newscasters in the shot.

“For those who are just finding out about this now, what appears to be some sort of metal vessel was discovered in Keats Park yesterday morning. As of now local authorities are unsure of how it got here or where it came from, but they are doing their best to find out.” The camera zoomed in on the ship, and the ground around it came into focus, including dark patches that looked like something had been spilled there. “It appears that blood was discovered at the scene. Scientists have taken samples for testing and will inform of us the results when they are available. The search for evidence continues and we will post whatever findings are discovered as soon as they are released. This is Pamela Marsan from-”

John turned the TV off in the middle of her sentence, his face pale. He turned to Karkat who was also shocked speechless. “Well, um, at least we know what’s going on?” He said, trying not to freak out.

“How the hell can you say that John? This is not fucking good. There is nothing about this you can possibly say that is a good thing.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m not sure which one of us is more at risk from this. They have your blood, which they most likely will not be able to trace to you seeing as you don’t have anything to compare it with. However, it’s possible they could find my fingerprints, and those they could trace back to me. “That’s comforting.”  
There was an awkward silence which Karkat broke.

“I never should have fucking come here."

"Why are you saying that?"

"Didn't you see your earth-human thing on that husktop-like machine of yours? They're looking for me, and you could get in serious fucking trouble if they do link you to what happened there."

"I hate to say it, but it's more likely to be 'when' they link it back to me rather than 'if' they link it back to me. Don't worry though, I'll just tell them I don't know anything, they'll probably leave me alone after that."

Karkat stared at John, possibly wondering if he was being serious or not before saying, "And what if they don't?"

"I guess we'll get to that if it happens. There’s no use worrying about what could or could not happen right now. I'll gather some more info at work alright? We can work on a plan after that."

"Fine, whatever." The troll sighed and curled up with his crush. "Just be careful alright? I am NOT losing you ever again."

"Awww, Karkattt! That's the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me that I remember right now!" John felt his cheeks flush and he tightened his grip around the troll.

"I'm fucking serious John." Karkat said pushing the human down onto the couch so he was kneeling on top of him. "When you were killed, I, I just... Something inside me just fucking died that day. Even though the game had ended, even though Jack was gone, something was just so fucking wrong with the world and I didn't know if I could go on anymore."

“Karkat I-”

"Let me finish. When I found you the other day, it was like, fuck, I can’t describe it. Everything was just better again. I don’t want to ever feel that empty inside, EVER. You may not fucking remember a lot of what happened during the game, and you didn’t fucking have to wonder if you would ever feel alright again. I did, so just, just; don’t do anything stupider than you normally do.”

“Karkat, I get what you’re saying, but you’re hurting me. If you insist on hovering over me, could you try not putting your knees on my crotch?”

“What?”

“Oh, I forgot, you have different words for those.” He paused, trying to think of a better way to phrase it. If you want to talk, at least make sure I’m not in pain, alright?”

The troll looked down and seemed to notice what John was talking about because he immediately got off the human. “Fuck. That was not what I meant to do.”

“It’s alright; I just thought you should know.”

There was another silence between them, until John spoke.

“Look, I know you went through a lot after the game ended, and I get that I haven’t had to suffer like you have, but I have dealt with troubles of my own while we were apart.”

“Huh-?”

“No Karkat, you listen now. Because I lost all my memories of what happened in the game and didn’t know it I’ve spent these last five years trying to fix a wound that only you could heal. I just felt empty inside and nothing I did could get rid of it. I saw my death and the deaths of my friends replayed endlessly every time I closed my eyes, and when I finally stopped having nightmares I felt like a zombie while I was awake. I knew my father was dead but nobody could tell me why or how it happened. Now that I finally have some idea of what’s actually going on, what would make you think I’d want to lose it again?”

He had started to tear up again, but the troll knew why. Karkat had though he’d been the only one hurting all this time, and John, being his usual derpy self, did his best not to give away his true feelings even though he’d been hurting too.

“John….”

"Karkat, I know you feel like it's always been you against the universe, but you're not alone anymore. I'm here now, and I'm going to do everything I can to help you and your buddies out, alright?"

"Yeah, thanks John."  
____________________________________________________________________________________

She was in the middle of brushing Bec's fur when her phone rang, or croaked since she had programmed it to croak whenever somebody pestered her. She picked it up and checked who it was, adjusting her dog-eared headband as she did so.

TT: I would like to inquire as to whether or not you have received any information about what is happening with John.  
TT: I learned of part of the story from Dave, although he was quite uninformative for the most part.  
TT: So I am curious to know if you have more information on the matter.

Jade typed back as fast as she could, flashes of dreams coming to mind as she worked.

GG: i haven't heard anything from either of them yet :(  
GG: but i have an idea of what you're talking about  
GG: it has something to do with an alien, right??   
TT: As far as I can tell it does indeed seem to involve some kind of extraterrestrial creature.  
TT: Apparently John found one that had landed in a park in the vicinity of where he lives.  
TT: Dave was in the process of informing me of the latest information that John had given him when he suddenly stopped responding to my pesters.   
GG: have you tried pestering john yet??  
GG: he may be able to tell you what's happening :)   
TT: I have attempted to contact him several times with no responses thus far.  
TT: I think I am becoming fearful of what might be going on with them.   
GG: don't worry!! :)  
GG: john and dave are just preoccupied right now!!  
GG: trust me, everything is fine right now!  
GG: :D/p>

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't updated in a bit, I was busy with other stuff like Halloween and a mini convention and things like that. Oh, and school, that too.
> 
> This chapter is a bit short because I managed to put all the stuff I wanted to in it and I felt it ended at a good spot. Next chapter will have a little bit of John at work plus some of the other trolls showing up.
> 
> Wait, did I forget to mention this earlier? Looook, drama! Conflict! More character introduction! EoA5 reference!  
> In this Bec comes back after Sburb ends and Grandpa is Jade's Guardian who died, because it makes more sense to "Normal" people who probably don't think a dog can take care of someone. Bec went to school with Jade too.
> 
> That's all and good day.
> 
> Miss Monochrome


	8. In Which Things Get Somewhat Serious

"Hey, I'm going to head out now. I'll be back around 10:30, alright? Is there anything you need?" John was dressed in a white shirt with a vest over it, black pants and shoes, and the look seemed strange to Karkat, but he chose to say something else.

"John, I'm not a fucking wriggler. I can be left alone for a while without everything falling apart."

"Sorry, I just wanted to make sure you wouldn't be hungry or anything while I was gone. I care, ok?"

"Yeah, I fucking know."

"Kaaaarrrkaattt. Don't sulk; I'll be fine, ok? I won't do anything stupid and I'll be home before you know it." He wrapped his arms around Karkat's chest from behind and planted a kiss between his horns. "If I leave here with you all irritated I'm gonna get sad."

"I'm not fucking sulking. To suggest that I'm sulking would be like saying that your human Nick Cage is better than Troll Will Smith."

"I'm not touching that subject right now, and I'll believe you if you say you're not sulking, but can you at least make me feel like this is a place I'd want to return home to? Like, not swearing at me when I leave?"

Karkat looked up at John, the human that he'd, through a series of strange events, developed feelings for. He remembered it so clearly, those red feelings and black feelings and unnamed feelings all mixed together into something he couldn't describe in words, not even in Alternian. John had called it "love" but Karkat didn't think that was it, such emotions couldn't be confined to such a small word, ever.

Not that he'd ever say how he felt out loud, of course.

Seeing himself reflected in those blue eyes made him blush and look away. "I don't-" He started to say before John grabbed the troll's chin and turned his head so they were facing each other. The human leaned in and pressed his lips against Karkat's. They stayed that way for several long seconds before breaking apart, a bit breathless.

"I can't hear you when you mumble." John said before walking towards the door. "I'll be back around 10:30!"

"J-just be careful, alright?"

"Can do!"

"...Dumbass."

__________________________________________________________________________

"John! Can you go and take table 14's order?" The hostess asked, rushing past him in order to show new customers to their table.

"What?"

"C'mon John! Table 14's order please?" She sighed and stopped waking. "Man, you've been out of it all day? What happened? Did you finally meet a girl or something?"

"What? No! I'm just tired, ok? That's all."

"Then get your act together, pronto!"

"Okay, okay!" He replied before striding over towards the booth where a family of four was seated. After their order had been taken and delivered to the chefs John stood waiting for another order to come out and he overheard some of his coworkers talking.

"The news has been weird lately. Do you really believe that an alien spaceship landed here or something?"

"Nah, more likely it's some geek's science project or a prank. We're just being set up, that's all"

"They said they found blood though. What about that?"

"It could be fake for all we know dude. We shouldn't take this too seriously."

"Fine, should we wait for more information to be released or something? What should we do?"

"Just go on with our lives I guess, what else can we do?"

John breathed in deeply before leaving the kitchen to bring his customers their meals, pondering over just what might happen next.

"Something wrong? You're not like your usual self today." A voice said from behind him and John turned around.

"Hey Andrew. I think I didn't sleep well last night, that's all. I'll do better tonight."

"What, did that news report freak you out or something?

"Nah, I just was working on a project and-"

"Excuse me, are you Jonathan Egbert?" While the two of them had been talking a pair of uniformed cops had entered and walked over to where they had been standing.

"Um, it's just John. Can I help you officers?"

One of the cops took out a badge and showed it to the two waiters. "We're from ASCEND, the American Society for Extraterrestrial Nuisance Detection. Would you mind us asking you some questions?"

"The what? Nevermind, sure. Andrew, can you take this to table 8 while I do this?"

"Sure I can. Just tell me about it later."

"He's not allowed to. This is top secret stuff kid."

Andrew looked confused, but sighed and went off to serve the guests. The cops turned back to John. "May we speak with you in a more private place?"

"Uh, sure, I guess. Where would that-"

"Is there an office or something we can go to?"

"Yeah, follow me."

He led them through the kitchens to an office where the boss worked, which was empty at the present time. One of the cops gestured for John to sit down and he did. The officers remained standing, looking rather intimidating as they did so.

"John Egbert," one of them said gruffly. He had a bald head, but the lack of hair there was made up for by the amount on the rest of his face. "You have been watching the news recently, correct?"

"Uh, yes I have, but-"

"Then you are aware that some sort of vessel landed in Keats Park two days ago?"

"Yes, I know that."

"Are you also aware that your fingerprints and DNA were found there?"  
"Yes, I know that too. You see-"

"Can you explain why they were there?"

John looked back between the two cops with an "are you fucking serious" expression that would have made Dave proud. "Do YOU realize that I was trying to tell you that all along? If you stopped interrupting me then you would have found out earlier."

"Then tell us boy."

"Eighteen, not a boy." He sighed. "Anyway, I have insomnia, so that night I decided to go for a walk to see if it would help relax me. When I got to the park I saw all this debris and went to investigate. I saw the ship-thing, whatever it was, and took a look at it. There wasn't anything in it though."

"You didn't tell anyone about what you saw?"

"I just figured it was somebody's idea of a prank. Since I'm sorta the pranking master I didn't want people to know I'd been one-upped by some unknown. The batterwitch is behind this, I just know it."

The what?"

"My sworn enemy, the batterwitch, and her evil minions at Crockercorp."

The two cops looked at each other, as if wondering whether or not John was serious. "I think we're done talking with you kid. Call us if you find out anything, alright." The bald one gave him a business card before standing up, his partner following.

"Um, okay."

They left the office, one of them muttering "Kid's a complete nutcase, why did we even ask him?"

John sighed after they were gone, just what had he gotten himself into?

__________________________________________________________________________

Karkat was bored. Plain and simple. He had been bored starting half an hour after John left, and that 30 minutes had been spent contemplating what the fuck had just happened. He probably would have spent more time on it except he'd realized that the more he thought about it, the more confused he got.

John had changed over the past few sweeps, not just in appearance, but in personality as well. Yes, he was mostly the same person, but his experiences after Sgrub had ended had obviously toughened him up somewhat. What he had done before leaving, forcing Karkat to kiss him, wasn't something he would have done in the past. Had he gotten more straightforward somehow, or what? The troll wasn't sure he necessarily hated it though.

He was still lost in thoughts when his communicator buzzed. "KK, you there?" Sollux asked, sounding tired.

"Of course I'm here dumbass, where else would I be? This thing is fucking attached to my wrist."

"Oh jutht be quiet thtupid. Lithen, I'm gonna thend thome more guyth down to where you are."

"That's not a great idea moron; the humans are fucking freaking out about the ship that I took. They're so fucking stupid." He rolled his eyes.

"Whatever let them be thtupid. I'm thending them through the tranthportalither in the thip, tho get over there to help them!"

"Wait, just who the fuck are you sending here?"

"You'll jutht have to wait and thee, now get going dumath."

"Alright, alright I'm going."

He got up from the couch and headed for the door, pausing to grab one of John's hoodies before leaving, in an attempt to cover up his horns.

It took him fifteen minutes more than it should have to get to the park because Sollux's directions were so bad. "Turn left at that thtreet, no I meant that one." Ugh, it was frustrating. Finally he arrived there and, to his irritation, there were still people there.

"I fucking told you. How the hell can I get them back to John's place without them being seen?"

"Uthe thome of your GodTier powerth to dithtract them. Or jutht knock them out or thomething."

"Fine." Karkat flexed his fingers, hoping that some of Vriska's luck had been passed on to him. "Here goes nothing."

He concentrated hard on his goal, and a minute later there were several muffled thumps that told him he had been successful. He crept through the trees, trying his best to stay in the shadows as he approached the ship. When he reached the door he heard an electrical popping noise and he looked up at one of his least favorite people.

"You look hilaaaaaaaarious, Kar. Is this your best attempt at being human?"

Vriska Serket, or as she had been called on multiple occasions, the spiderbitch stood blocking his path, a sneer on her face.

"Shut up Serket, I borrowed this from John alright?"

"Awwwwwwww, that's soooooooo precious. I'm going to puke sparkles and rainbows."

"I hope you do."

"Nevermind that you two, this place tastes odd, it has too many flavors mixed together. Is this really where the humans like to live?" Terezi, still wearing her red glasses sniffed the air as she got out of the ship.

"How would I fucking know Ter?"

"Wwould you just be quiet guys? I'm not pleased to be here either."

Fuck, Eridan was here? That made no sense, but there he was, complete with ridiculous scarf and cape blowing in the wind.

"Oh shut up fish boy. Nobody wanted you to come with us."

"Wwell I was told that a highblood should come wwith you to represent our kind."

"Like my blood isn't high enough for that?"

"Oh my fucking gog will you guys shut up?" Karkat yelled, his patience gone in a flash. "Is this all of you or are more coming?"

"I believe that I'm the last one who was chosen to be transportalized here at this point in time." Kanaya stepped out, brandishing her chainsaw for a second before it changed back into a tube of lipstick. "However the likelihood that more of us will follow on a completely separate visit is very high indeed."

"Alright, if that's everyone lets go back. I have no idea when these humans will fucking wake up again and I have no intention of getting John in trouble because of you morons."

"Whatever you say leader," Vriska laughed. "As long as you know what you're doing."

"Did everybody get there alright?" Karkat's communicator buzzed again.

"Yeah Sol, they got here fine and are already arguing with each other. Why the hell did you choose these guys to send?"

Well, Terethi and Vrithka inthithed on going and I figured it would be fine. Eridan wath really tharthing to get on my nerveth, pluth he'th a highblood, and Kanaya'th good at keeping everybody in check. It jutht made thenthe."

"Remind me to never allow you to make decisions again."

"Whatever KK."

The five trolls walked mostly in silence on the way back to John's house, staying in the shadows as much as they could, and luck must have been on their side because they met nobody out of the ordinary on their way. John had given Karkat the spare key to his apartment and showed him how to use it, so the troll was able to let everybody in and lock the door behind them.

"Awwwwwwww, John's place is so like him. There's a Nic Cage poster!"

"Do you still have your ridiculous crush on him?"

"It's not ridiculous, you just don't have any taste in movies."

Karkat had started to respond when there was a noise from outside the apartment and the door opened, revealing a very mystified John.

"What the-?"

"Hey John…" The troll replied awkwardly. "Everything sort of started to fall apart."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there! Ms Monochrome here! I don't know why, but that chapter was harder to write than it should have been. I would write and it would only be 600 words, which was irritating me.
> 
> Anyway, here it is, chapter eight, all wrapped up in pretty paper, or imaginary paper. It's getting more plotsy, but there's still JohnKat fun in the beginning, John is getting more... what's the word... I'll just use badass.
> 
> OH, I gots a tumblr and actually started using it. I think I already posted a link on mah profile, but here it is just in case http://ms-monochrome.tumblr.com/ There's some pics of me cosplaying John on there and stuff.
> 
> Toodles, I should be doing homework!
> 
> Ms Monochrome Away!


	9. In Which Dave Gets Some Screen Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY GETTING THE HANG OF THIS HTML CRAP!

Dave woke up with a killer headache. One that made him more grateful for his shades than usual, the light hurt his eyes and every time he moved there was a twinge inside his skull. His ears rang with unheard laughter, a bizarre cackling sound. Oh, and he was lying on the floor of his penthouse apartment like some prick after partying way too hard in a not-even-close-to-cool way.

Dave was not anywhere close to that kind of guy, which made him wonder just what had happened that caused him to wake up this way. If Bro could have seen him now, what kind of snide remarks would he have made? If he weren't dead, of course.

No, thoughts of Bro were off limits. He'd locked away his emotions so long ago he'd thought he'd forgotten how to feel things alltogether. Despite this there were still times when he did miss his brother, and they were awful.

Back to the floor, how had he gotten here anyway? It was fucking uncomfortable and did nothing to make the pain he was in any better. He struggled to get into an upright position, one hand still clutching his head. Half a foot away his phone started buzzing, he moaned and grasped for it, but only succeeded in pushing it away from him.

"Fucking-piece-of-crap." Dave cursed, wishing he had some sort of superpower that would bring his phone closer to him. He crawled over to it, wincing with every movement he made. He shielded his eyes as he pressed the on button, squinting to look at the screen.

GG: dave! are you ok? you're not responding to anything anyone is saying! :(  
GG: i'm getting really worried! DD:

The bright green text was hard to read in his state, and it did nothing to improve his mood. He made no effort to reply quickly.

TG: sorry there harley  
TG: i was too busy bonding with the floor of my apartment to respond to you guys  
TG: floor thinks im boss man  
TG: we had a hardcore talk together  
TG: like  
TG: it was all  
TG: dave  
TG: youre so cool bro  
TG: you are the coolkid  
TG: it is you   
GG: dave, did you faint? :o  
GG: wait, i should have known that…  
GG: you were supposed to faint a few days after all this started DX  
GG: which means everything is still all right for now :)   
TG: way to go harley  
TG: interrupting my rad story with you talking to yourself  
TG: so smooth girl  
GG: don't be mean dave! :(  
GG: we were all worried about you!  
GG: i can't help it if i don't always know when things will happen!  
GG: i just know what will happen!  
TG: woah  
TG: down girl  
TG: im just messing with you  
TG: i know you still can't control the whole  
TG: i see the future in dreams  
TG: kind of shit  
GG: i'm not a dog dave :(  
TG: of course you arent harley  
TG: how rude of me to forget that  
TG: allow me to apologize by not talking to anyone  
TG: peace

Dave collapsed back onto the floor, head still pounding. He had done his best to make it seem like he wasn't freaked out by the fact he'd been passed out for half a day and he really hoped that Jade had bought it.

His phone vibrated in his hand, but he ignored it, he didn't feel like talking anymore. Not when he felt like shit.

She'd mentioned that everyone was worried about him. Why? Because he hadn't answered their messages? It wasn't that unusual for him. Ever since that incident five years ago he'd had times where he just didn't want to talk to anyone. Rose had said it was a side affect of his bro dying, not to his face, but he ended up hearing about her theory anyway. John was lame like that.

No, the reason he wasn't answering now was because he wanted to think. He was starting to remember what happened before he'd fainted and he just needed time to sort things out.

He recalled pestering John about those weird messages he'd been getting. Whoever was sending them, Terezi, he remembered, claimed that they new him, and Dave had the sneakiest suspicion that she was right. Her teal-colored text and typing quirk was so familiar to him, yet he couldn't remember why.

John had said that she'd been one of twelve other players that had helped his group of friends out in a game they'd all played together. Then what had he said? He opened the pesterlog from earlier and glanced at the conversation.

EB: well, we all knew them years ago  
EB: we played a game together  
EB: but we all forgot what happened when it ended   
TG: bro  
TG: youre making my head hurt  
TG: speak english please   
EB: you, rose, jade, and i played this game together when we were 13  
EB: and there were these trolls that played too  
EB: but once it ended we forgot all about it  
EB: even though it was the reason our guardians died

Bro's death had been caused by that game? Was that why they had all died at the same time and yet nobody could explain it?

He clenched his fists, feeling anger bubble up inside him. Who the hell had made him forget these things? Why did they think they had the right to control his memories? The worst thing about all this was that he still didn't know just how his Bro had died. Yes, he had been a puppet-obsessed, strife-loving weirdo, but Bro had raised him, and Dave couldn't even do him the honor of letting his sacrifice be remembered.

Sacrifice?

Why had he thought of that word?

An image flashed in his head, a body sprawled out in a derelict blue landscape, his own sword skewering him to the ground.

No, that was not a sacrifice. That was murder. Plain and simple.  
__________________________________________________________________________________

"I didn't expect you to get back this early. I thought you said-"

"Yeah, I didn't expect to get out early thanks to being questioned by the cops about my fingerprints showing up where you were found. Besides that I'm fine, well, except for coming home and finding four more of you guys in my small apartment." He walked over to the couch and sat down running a hand through his hair as he did so.

"I didn't have any say in them coming here, alright? Sollux just notified me that they were coming and that I had to get them."

"I wasn't saying it's your fault, I'm saying that's a lot to take in after being interrogated. Plus I still don't remember who most of what happened in the game, much less who most of you guys are. I'm just, overwhelmed."

"Whaaaaaaaat?" Vriska clapped her hands to her cheeks in surprise. "You can remember me, can't you?"

"Not really, I recall fragments of the past, but that's all." He sighed. "Nevermind me, that's not the important thing right now."

"John's right guys," Karkat said. "The humans are really getting suspicious and now was a fucking bad time to show up. One troll is easy to hide, but five?"

The computer beeped loudly and a video screen appeared on it, Jade's face looking at everyone.

"Hi guys!" She said cheerfully. "I had a feeling you'd need some help right now."

Under his breath Karkat mumbled something along the lines of "Fucking psychic chicks"

"Jade!" John seemed ecstatic to see his friend. "Your intuition is really getting good!" She smiled cheerfully and the irritated troll noticed that she had changed over the sweeps, just like her paradox-brother. Her face was less round than it had been in his memories, giving her a mature look. Like John she no longer wore glasses, and her green eyes stood out even more than they had before.

"I'm good at that sort of thing." She grinned again. "Anyway, you should come over here! The island is a perfect place to hide from everyone!"

"Jade, I'm not sure if that's such a good idea. I mean, these guys can, but I've sorta got a life here."

"Special circumstances call for special actions John! With everything that's going on now it's best to come here, I've contacted Dave and Rose about it and they agreed to come out here, although they're not super-sure about what's going on."

The trolls were all glancing at one another, probably wondering the same thing as Karkat. Would this really work out? Finally he decided to speak up for his kind.

"How would we even get there? We can't really be seen by your species without them freaking out."

"Geez Karkat, you're such a sourpuss even after all these years. I guess some things never change do they?"

"Answer the fucking question Harley!"

"Fiiiiiiiine." She said, stretching the word out like she was Vriska. Maybe she had picked the habit up from John? "You guys seem to forget that I'm still the Witch of Space. That and I remember everything that happened in sBurb.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I learned in this chapter that when I'm having trouble writing a certain part I tend to throw Dave into the picture. Weird.
> 
> I also realized that I'm not necessarily sure who Dave will end up with in the end, because I ship both DavexTerezi and DavexJade. Any requests for that?
> 
> Last realization was that maybe it was a bad idea to make this a drama. I enjoyed writing the floofy fluff more. Karkat is going to have to work hard to get some alone time with John. Poor baby.


	10. In Which Things Get More Serious

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long absence, I've had writers block. Also, why did I add drama? Why the hell couldn't I write nice fluffyness and be satisfied with that?

Chapter Ten

John sat on the edge of the bed, his hands clutching the sheets as though they were the only thing keeping him tethered to the ground. He knew he had made the right decision, the right choice of action for the time being anyway. Even though he knew what he had done was right he still felt an emptiness inside of him.

A drop of blood fell from his still-bleeding nose and onto his knee, but he ignored it. It wasn't important, because he'd protected them.

Karkat was gone.

They all were gone, for now.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"What the fuck do you mean you remember everything?" Karkat yelled at the computer screen, which only made Jade laugh. "How the hell can you remember when all the other humans forgot?"

"I'm a super-magical witch, remember? I see stuff in dreams, alright?" She grinned mischievously and continued. "Right after the game finished I did lose my memories, we all did for a year, but I was the first to get mine back. The PTSD had worn off, so I started dreaming normally again. Well, not 'normally' like I used to, seeing as Prospit was destroyed and all, but I started having visions once more. Through these I slowly started remembering what had happened in Sburb, remembering all of you guys, and Jack, and the kids from the other session. I thought everyone else was getting their memories back too, but I was wrong."

She sighed and looked sad for a second, and John felt bad for her. She had been forced to deal with memories full of death, destruction, and despair for years with no one to talk to about it. "Well, I remembered almost all of our adventures, up until the very end when we defeated Jack. I had no idea whether or not you guys were still alive, or in another universe, or something. I didn't know if we would ever see you again, which kinda sucked."

"You mentioned you were still the Witch of Space. Does that mean you can control your powers?"

Jade smiled again and nodded. "Yeah. Once I recalled everything I started practicing so I could get the hang of using them again. It wasn't easy, after forgetting I had them and not using them for a year and all, but I've got them under control now."

"You're so cool Jade! I only used mine by accident, and, well-"

"John's a derp, but we already knew that." Karkat interrupted, his arms folded tightly across his chest. John could practically feel the anger building up inside of the troll, and it was really adorable. "Anyway, you just think you could fucking poof us from here to wherever the fuck you are just like that? How do you even know where we are anyway?"

"John gave me his address when he first moved there. I have the coordinates right here, it's simply a matter of concentrating hard enough."

"Yeah, well-"

"Karkat, puhleeeeeeeease. Stop trying to be tough and annoying, you're not fooling aaaaaaaanyone anymore. We've put up with you for sweeps and we knowwwwwwww you're a delicate little wiggler inside."

To no one's surprise, Karkat lunged at Vriska, and was only able to hold him back with the help of Terezi and Kanaya.

"Vriska, I know teasing Karkat is fun and all, believe me, my prankster's gambit is just waiting for the opportune moment to strike, but now is really not a great time for fights, alright?"

The blue-blooded troll sighed and nodded. "Fine, I'll stop teasing him for now."

"Thanks Vriska." He turned back to the screen where Jade was patiently waiting for things to calm down. "So, what do you propose we do for right now?"

"Well, I've practiced transporting things from your house before, so I won't mess that up. Probably."

"Wait, when was this?"

"They were socks John, you probably didn't notice they were missing. Don't freak out over something so small."

"But-" John started to reply, but the computer's image flickered, and another screen popped up, one with a very different face in it. "Man, John, your computer'th thecurity thucks. Theriouthly, how do you not get hacked on a daily bathith."

"Sollux!" Karkat seems the most shocked out of everyone, while John and Jade just seem to pass it off as "one of those random things that always seem to happen to us."

"Who did you think it would be KK?" The troll seemed irritated, but whether it was due to not being challenged as a hacker, or Karkat's surprise was undetermined. "Anyway, I overheard everything, and I have to thay that JD'th idea ith pretty good for… her"

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing whathoever. Thath bethideth the point. From what JN and KK are thaying, the humanth are pretty thuthpithiouth about whath going on. It probably would be betht for all of uth to hide out on her ithland for a while, while thingth calm down."

"Hah! I knew I had good ideas!"

"Thut up." Sollux's glasses hid his eyes from sight, and it was sort of creepy in the light from the setting sun outside the apartment. "If what JN thaid ith true, he'th already thuthpected by whatever thecurity your planet hath. Therefore, if they were to invethtigate hith houth, you all would be found and thath extremely bad."

John's face tensed, but he couldn't say he hadn't thought of that happening. He'd wondered if armed guards would burst in through the doors at least once an hour since seeing that news report. Strangely enough however, he didn't care about what happened to him, it was everyone else he cared about, Vriska, and Kanaya, and Terezi, but mostly, it was Karkat he worried about.

John tried his best to hide it, but he was terrified of losing the troll again. Every second it seemed like he was remembering more and more about Sburb, especially now that Jade was talking about it, and the more he recalled, the more he felt towards his nubby-horned friend. And the more desperate he became to stay by his side.

"I agree." He said, ignoring the tightness in his chest. "It's best to avoid having you guys be caught, plus Jade's island will be a good hideout. It's really big and stuff, so…" He trailed off lamely.

"I can bring you guys over now if you want!" Jade smiled eagerly. "It's no trouble, really!"

Karkat was staring at John with a weird look in his eyes. Did he know how John was feeling? Did he know what John was about to do?

"Thounds good to me." Sollux replied to Jade. "Take the fithboy firtht, it'th no loth if he doethn't make it."

"Wwhat the hell Sol!"

"Thut up, you know it'th true."

Jade nodded and closed her eyes. Then things got strange.

It was if the world had gotten fuzzy, nothing seemed to be in focus, and John felt like he was in limbo. Then the feeling faded, the room went back to normal, and Eridan was gone.

"One down, more to go!" Jade grinned and shifted in the computer screen to reveal the pompous troll standing behind her. "Who wants to go next?"

Then, one by one, the trolls left. Each time it felt as if the air around them was shifting, and then they were gone. Now it was just John and Karkat.

"Your turn." John said, forcing a smile on his face. He pulled the troll out of the path of the webcam and drew him into a hug.

"What are you-?" Karkat started to say, but he was interrupted by the human's lips on his. This kiss was different than the previous ones. It was different because John was trying to convey how he was feeling about what he was going to do in it, and the troll could tell.

The atmosphere changed in two ways, and only one was due to Jade. Karkat began to fade, halfway here, halfway there, and it was only then he realized what was happening.

"I can't go there yet." John said, tears building in his eyes. I have to take care of things here, I have to set things right over here before I can join you guys where Jade is."

Karkat vanished and the world righted itself. On the computer screen he appeared and started screaming and swearing, but John couldn't hear it. He'd lied about not using his powers, because he'd just been using them just then. He'd built a wind barrier around the room, making it soundproof to those inside, but he knew what was happening outside it.

The ASCEND guys were back for him. They had realized he wasn't some crazy insomniac who'd just happened to find a spaceship. They had figured out he had to be involved in some way. And they had come to his apartment looking for him.

Once John was certain everyone was gone he went to the computer and turned off his monitor and speakers before lowering the barrier.

His door burst open and several armed guards came in, glancing around to see if there was anyone else in the room besides the Heir. They focused on him and charged, but John stepped towards them, looking surprised.

"What's going-" He started to say, but one of the guards seized John's arms and forced them behind his back.

"No talking!" The man shouted. "You are under suspicion of consolidating with extraterrestrials, something which could put the entire planet at risk."

"At risk for what? They wouldn't hurt us." John snapped, but his only response was a slap to his face.

"You are not an expert on celestial beings. You are a child! Don't talk about things you don't understand!"

"I understand things better than you think I do!" He yelled, ignoring his smarting cheek. "I know more than you do! They're not dangerous to us, they're not evil! In fact, they're the ones who created this fucking planet, so how about you shut the fuck up because you don't know anything about them!"

SMACK! John's nose was bleeding, his bright red blood dripping onto the wood floor. A second guard had come over and forced him onto the ground and was snapping handcuffs around his wrists.

"Shut your trap boy. It's useless to fight against us." They lifted the Heir to his feet and was dragging him towards the door, but he protested and turned towards his computer.

"I'll catch up with you guys later, this is no big deal, trust me." Another smack. "Karkat, I'm sorry I can't be with you right now. I'm sorry for lying to you, but I couldn't lose you again. I love you."

John was smiling, smiling despite the fact that his nose was bleeding, one of his eyes was starting to swell shut, and he was being forced out of his own home in handcuffs. However, another guard hit him one more time and he collapsed, and his limp body was thrown over someone's shoulder before leaving the room. Several people were still there, and one of them came over to the computer, noticed that the webcam was still on, and smashed it before unplugging the tower and taking it with them.

Halfway around the world, Karkat had just shut himself in another room on Jade's island, red tears dripping down his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it was sad, if you feel upset go back to chapter 6.


	11. In Which John Starts Scaring The Author

"What's got the loudmouth so quiet?" Dave asked, taking a sip from his coffee mug. "It's pretty fucking creepy if you ask me. Like he went mute or something like that."

Jade rested a hand on his shoulder and gave him a disgruntled look. "He's upset about John, it's only natural to be quiet after seeing someone you love be hurt and forcefully taken away. He was really mad at me for a few days, because I wouldn't send him back to help John out." She sighed and turned from the coolkid, giving Rose a cup of tea. The two of them had just arrived, somewhat disoriented from being poofed from one place to the next, and were being filled in on the details of what had happened so far.

"Why did you ignore his request?" Rose asked, sipping her tea with her pinky extended. "If he was that desperate to get back to John's side, what was the reason for not complying to his wishes?"

"John knew that the only way to fix things somewhat was to get the trolls somewhere safe, but he, being human, had to stay behind so he could talk to those guys from whatever it was. If he had come here, nothing would have changed because nobody but us knew that Karkat and his friends aren't a threat to Earth."

"That just explained why John was unable to come here, not why Karkat was not allowed go back."

"I'm getting there, alright? I didn't let Karkat go back because it would mean that both John's and my efforts would have been wasted. If those government people had gotten their hands on what they thought of only as 'an alien' then they would have been subjected to all sorts of awful things. John knew that would happen, which was why he made that barrier. He knew quite plainly that he could get hurt, but that didn't matter as long as everyone got away safely."

"Jade, you make Egderp sound like some sort of martyr or something. He's not dead, and he's still a moron."

"He's not a moron Dave! He got better grades than you in school!" Jade snapped, her hands planted firmly on her hips."

The coolkid lowered his shades slightly, as if to say "are you serious?" "Which is proof he's not that bright, who actually cares about school?"

Jade started to respond, but she was interrupted by the sound of someone entering the room. It was Kanaya, followed by Vriska and Terezi. The blind troll seemed to be sniffing the air, she took a few cautious steps forward, as if tracking something, them charged at Dave!

"I found you coolkid!" She exclaimed, throwing her skinny arms around him and making him spill his coffee. A drop landed on her hand and she licked it eagerly. "Daave, how can you drink that? It tastes like diirt!"

"I can drink it because I'm awesome, obviously."

"You smell even more delicious than you did when I last smelled you!" She said, licking his cheek mischieviously. "How can this be?"

"I'm a big kid now Pyrope. Some things just get better with time, you know?" Dave didn't seemed bothered by the fact she was running her tongue over his entire face.

"I do nowww!"

Kanaya turned away from them and faced Jade, who asked, "Any luck so far?"

"Not yet. Karkat is just as unresponsive as yesterday. He did manage to eat some food though, which is an improvement." The jade-blooded troll pursed her lips and glanced back towards the door she'd come through.

"Well, maybe now that Rose is here she can help. I'm sure she'll find him an interesting patient."

"That may be true for Rose, but I'm not sure Karkat will listen to her. He may not find her presence comforting, considering in the past he did pair John and Rose up as a couple."

"What makes you say that?" Jade raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

"He mentioned it briefly when I asked Terezi if it might do some good. It was one of the few things he actually responded to."

"I guess that says something then. Maybe I should talk to him tomorrow."

"Why don't we just leave him be? Does it really matter if we talk to him or not? If he wants to be a wiggler and sulk we shouldn't stop him. We should be spending our time figuring out a way to rescue John instead of fussing over Karkles." Vriska leaned up against the wall, her arms folded over her chest.

Kanaya shot a sideways glance at the spider-troll and pursed her lips together. "I'm not sure we should just ignore Karkat when he is obviously in a state of imense psychological distress."

"Why? It's what he wants us to do, right? Let's leave him alone for a day or two, what's the harm in that?"

"He's our friend Vriska, we cannot just abandon him because he's upset."

"Woah, do I need to break you two up? One of you seriously needs a time out right now, and I'm willing to do that once I remember how to do my sick time shit again." Dave was staring at the two trolls from across the room, even going so far as to lower his sunglasses to do so. "Look guys, the crabby boy is all upset because John got captured by the Feds, right? He needs some time to get his girly emotions in check, or something like that. Let's leave him alone for a day, and if he's still pms-ing this time tomorrow, I'll talk to him myself."

There was silence for a few seconds, then Jade shrugged her shoulders. "Fine with me. Now do we want to talk about what to do with John's situation?"

___________________________________________________________________________________

He was back in that black and white place. It had been called Skaia, hadn't it? The first time he'd been there it had been beautiful, but the land had been ravaged by war and fire and now truly resembled a battlefield.

Everyone was there, John and his friends stood near Karkat and the other trolls. It seemed like it had been ages since they had started playing their games, and only now were they reaching the climax. They had succeeded in destroying the green sun, they weren't exactly sure just how that had happened, but it was gone and they hoped it would make killing Jack easier. They'd figured out that he was the cause of all the unnatural activity going on and now that his source of power was gone he should be weaker. Not a lot though, that was certain.

He clenched his fists, trying to work up the courage to tell the others his idea. If they agreed to it he would most certainly die, but it would give them the chance they needed to defeat Jack. Dying wasn't that bad. John had died many other times, but he'd come back all those times. This would be a heroic death. This time he had no dream self left, no more levels to gain. If he died this time, and his plan worked, it would be the end.

He wondered if winning the game would mean he would be reborn, or if it would bring back the dead. There was no way of knowing just what would happen next.

The scenery changed abruptly and suddenly Jack appeared. Apparently traces of his First Guardian powers still lingered, but it was clear to tell that it wasn't a lot. It was now or never to end this.

John charged, clutching his Vrillyhoo, the gift Vriska had given him before dying. Sure she was back now, but it wasn't the same now. There was a sort of invisible wall between the two of them, and it may have been caused by John and Karkat bonding so well while she was gone, but whatever it was, it couldn't be fixed right now. He didn't bother to look back, because if he did he wouldn't be able to continue moving forward. He was scared, he didn't want to die, dying hurt, and, and, he didn't know what would happen next, and-

SLASH.

John didn't know what had happened. He'd been running, and then he was suddenly on the ground, and he hurt a whole lot. He tried to get up, but his body felt heavy, and he was in too much pain. He coughed and a warm liquid came out of his mouth. It tasted salty and gross, but he couldn't wipe it away. His chest hurt really bad, and it was starting to make his brain feel fuzzy.

"John!"

Was someone calling his name?

"John! Can you hear me?"

What was going on? Was Jack dead? Was this what death felt like?

"Fuck! John listen to me!"

He felt his eyes shut involuntarily, and his fingertips were starting to grow numb. He was suddenly aware of something on his face, something warm... and wet? Wait, were they tears? Was someone crying for him? Why? He wasn't important. He was just some kid who messed things up and let his friends die. And now he was helpless, unable to move a muscle, just waiting for death to come.

"John, I'm sorry I wasn't stronger. I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I'm so sorry, so fucking sorry."

Was that Karkat's voice? No, this wasn't Karkat's fault, it was his, John's. If he had only prototyped Jade's sprite with that doll Jack wouldn't have been able to get into the troll's session and mess things up. The blame lay solely with him, and was dying with him now.

"John, can you even hear me?"

He could, and he wished he could move. He used every bit of his willpower and managed to open his eyes.

There was Karkat, the troll who had first been set on hating him, but somehow they had become friends, and then somehow more than that. Red tears were streaming down his face, but he didn't seem to care.

"John?"

The heir managed to smile, not knowing how he was able to, but then started coughing again, spattering the ground beside him with red. Why did it have to hurt so much? His chest was on fire, and his head was reeling. The world around him was blurry and he couldn't tell what was what. The only thing he could focus on was the warmth of his left hand, the one part of him that wasn't hurting. But even that was growing faint.

"Fuck, no! John stay with me!"

The words sounded distant, so far away. He felt so tired, sleeping felt like such a good idea. He was floating away, drifting off into nothingness, and then...

He was alive again.

His entire body was drenched in sweat and his hands were clenched into fists. His mouth tasted of blood and he realized that he had been gnawing at the side of his cheek while he slept. He sat up dazedly and couldn't help lifting up the shirt he wore just so he could check and see if the wound was still there, it had felt so real in his dream.

"Is something wrong Mr. Egbert?" Someone was in the room with him, and John couldn't remember whether or not they had been there before he'd fallen asleep.

"Don't call me that. That was my dad's name."

"Fine, answer the question anyway." The man was reading a newspaper, not even looking at him.

"I was just dreaming of the past." John replied in an emotionless voice. "Something I forgot happened."

"Oh? Anything interesting happen?"

John remained silent. He was not going to bow down to these ignorant fools, he was not going to be a good boy anymore.

"I asked you a question. It would be in your best interest to answer it kid. What did you see in your dream?"

No. He wasn't scared of these humans. He was John Egbert, the Heir of Breath. Slayer of Typehus, champion of the Land of Wind and Shade, top of his Echeladder, and savior of Skaia. He'd dealt with much worse than these fools and he was going to prove it to them.

"Stop ignoring me boy, do you want another black eye?" The man stood over him now, his newspaper rolled into a makeshift club. "Answer the goddamn question!"

"Leave me alone." John said, rising to his feet, his hands now trembling with anger.

"What did you just say?"

"I said leave me the fuck alone you bulge-licking failure of a human being. I let myself get caught so my friends could escape, otherwise I would have been able to knock you all unconscious within seconds."

The man seemed to have a hard time processing just what he was hearing. However it seemed like someone else was listening in and had been able to understand John's words. The door opened and several other armed guards entered, their guns at the ready.

"We've got you surrounded kid, don't try anything funny."

"I'm a prankster guys, I'm always funny. I'll show you a magic trick I've been working on, but you have to promise you won't tell anyone about it."

He wiggled his fingers and he felt a familiar tranquility fill his body. He was a conductor, and the winds were his to control. All he had to do was tell them what he needed to happen.

The light bulbs in the room shattered, bathing everything in darkness. Several of the guards yelled in alarm as it happened, and there was the sound of gunshots and bullets hitting cement.

"I call it 'a god's revenge.'"


	12. In Which Dave is Awesome

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aka I couldn't think of a good title.  
> New chapter, be happy.

"Do you really think this is a good idea? What if he only makes things worse?"

"Relax Jade, my brother is probably the person best suited for this task, don't fret about it."

"But they've never gotten along before, maybe I should be in the same room with them."

"No, that would almost certainly make things worse. We should just leave them alone for now, if they start to kill each other, then we'll intervene."

"I guess that's all we can do."

___________________________________________________________________________________

"Hey, asshole. Stop sniveling and get up." With his shades on Dave couldn't see anything in the dark room, but he knew that the troll was in there. "If all you're going to do whenever something happens to John is cry, you don't deserve him."

"Shut the fuck up Strider. What do you know?"

"I know a hell of a lot more than you do about John. Hell, I'm so fucking knowledgeable on the subject I got a PHD in it, so that's Dr. Strider to you, moron." He took a deep breath and leaned up against the doorframe, his arms folded over his chest. "And I know that John is a really, genuinely nice guy, which means he's too fucking nice to tell those he cares about that something's wrong. He just keeps everything inside and smiled because he doesn't want to worry anyone, even though he's been through enough to send him to a loony bin." He clenched his fists, as if recalling something painful. "We all have, and you know that."

"He doesn't do that with me." Dave could see the troll's eyes and teeth in the darkness, reflecting the light from the hallway.

"Yeah? Then do you know about all the times he woke me up with his screaming? All the nights I got barely any sleep because he couldn't tell the difference between dreams and reality? After that fucking game ended and we forgot everything, it was John who was affected the most by it. I shared a room with him for four years and watched him fall apart during that time. All of us, Jade, Rose, and I did our best to put him back together, and even with doctors and psychiatrists looking at him every day, it still took him years to smile normally again. So don't act like you and your friends are the only ones who've been hurt by that game, because we've all dealt with our fair share of shit."

Silence followed Dave's words; Karkat was trying to process his words and what they meant. He remembered some of the stuff he had seen through the viewport of John's past, how he had been bullied once and kept it from his father for as long as possible, until he couldn't hide the bruises anymore. Several days ago John had told him some of what happened while they had been apart.

"Because I lost all my memories of what happened in the game and didn't know it I've spent these last five years trying to fix a wound that only you could heal. I just felt empty inside and nothing I did could get rid of it. I saw my death and the deaths of my friends replayed endlessly every time I closed my eyes, and when I finally stopped having nightmares I felt like I was asleep while I was awake"

Was that only a part of what he'd gone through? Karkat felt awful, John was in trouble, and all he was doing was hiding in a room away from people and crying when he should be doing something to rescue him. John had been willing to sacrifice his life in order to defeat Jack, he'd gotten arrested on purpose to help his friends hide, and Karkat was doing nothing to repay that.

"Shut the fuck up Strider. You don't think I can do anything don't you?"

"I know you can't do anything, and I have the proof right in front of me. If I hadn't come here you'd still be feeling sorry for yourself instead of trying to figure out a way of getting John back. By the way, that's what we've been doing when we're not debating over whether or not to let you kill yourself."

"Wait, what?"

"I said that while you've been crying like a baby the rest of us have been working out a plan to rescue John. You're lucky I'm even mentioning this to you. If Jade hadn't insisted I tell you what we've decided on I wouldn't even be here except to tell you you're being a moron." Dave sighed and placed a hand on his forehead. "Look, we're all working on a plan to rescue John out in the living room. Jade found out where he's being held, and if you want a say in anything that's going on you better pull yourself together ASAP and join us." He turned around and walked out of the room, leaving the door open slightly so that a single line of light shone inside the dark room.

___________________________________________________________________________________

"What happened? Did he say anything?" Jade asked as soon as the Knight returned to the rest of the group and sank down onto the couch, rubbing the spot above his right eyebrow with the heel of his hand.

"He showed just how much of a moron he continues to be. I didn't really expect much from him, even if 5 years have passed."

"Would it be possible for you to put aside your permanent disposition towards hating Karkat until we have successfully retrieved John from the facility holding him? It would be in our best interest to restore him to a somewhat-stable state of mind so he can be of some use to us." Rose said, continuing to sip from her cup of tea.

"No, I think he could use another dozen or so blows to the head before he's going to say something actually decent or smart. I have to say that I'm not exactly sorry I forgot about what happened between us. I know now that John really cares about the guy, but fuck, he just pisses me off by just being in the same room as me."

"'Cares about' being used in place of words you refuse to say, I take it?"

"Those words being the best way I can phrase it without vomiting."

"Can it Strider, I can't stand you either." Karkat entered the room as if their previous conversation had never happened. His eyes were slightly swollen and bloodshot, but otherwise he looked the same as he ever did. He walked over to where the others were and just hovered over them, as if hoping they would play along.

Kanaya gave him a "what are you doing?" look and he sighed.

"Fuck. Look, I know... I know I've been a wiggler lately. I acted like Eridan, and that wasn't fair to any of you."

"And?" Dave said, resisting the urge to smirk.

"And... and I apologize for my actions." Karkat said, but muttered to himself, "Fucking asshole."

"Very good Karkat, John would be proud of you." Rose got to her feet and addressed everyone. "All right then, now that he has regained control of his mental faculties I believe now would be a good time to fill him in on our plan."

___________________________________________________________________________________

"What are we doing here?"

"We're waiting for the Rose human's signal; did you even listen to what the plan was?"

"Of course I did! I just didn't know what part we were on yet! There were a shitload of steps in it!"

"Gah, Karkles, what are we going to do with you?" Terezi licked his cheek playfully. The two of them were hiding out in a tree atop a hill overlooking a large complicated-looking facility. "Supposedly you went through some kind of revelation which changed you, but you don't taste any different to me!"

"I thought you new flush crush didn't want you flirting with me, and I'm pretty sure other quadrants are out of the question."

"What Dave doesn't know won't hurt him. You were mine before I was his, and that's not going to change, no matter who we're flushed for. You'll always be my favorite thing to lick."

"I thought we were supposed to be looking for that signal? You did say that was what we were doing."

"Yup! Eridan, Kanaya, Jade, and Vriska are distracting the humans, and Rose is finding out where John is. When she's found him she'll signal everyone, and you and I will go in and help her."

Crash! Bang! Thump! A room at the far end of the building seemed to explode, sending wood, metal, and plastic into the air. A miniature tornado spiraled up through the wreckage, and screams could be heard from inside it. More bangs. More debris. More screams.

"Well," Karkat said, not taking his eyes off the commotion. "I think we've just found him."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omygog this was hard to write. Fun fact: Everything up to Dave putting a hand on his forehead was written before the intermission started. Lol.
> 
> Anyway, between the last chapter and this was a convention in which I participated in a Homestuck Q&A panel, classes were wacky, and I had personal crap to deal with.
> 
> I'm also just making excuses. Ignore me and I hope this satisfies your cravings for a few seconds.


	13. In Which the Author Posts a New Chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! I'll explain some at the bottom!

Without giving a second thought to the plan, or even what he was going to do, Karkat leapt out of the tree and took off running down the hill. Terezi was shouting for him to come back and asking him what was he doing? He just told her to stay put and wait for the others to come. He hoped one of them would know to stay by her. This was too dangerous for a blind troll to deal with, hell, it might even be too much for him to deal with, but John was somewhere in the midst of debris and wind and gog fucking damnit Karkat was going to find him.

The outside of the facility was large and maze-like, forcing the troll to backtrack several times before he was on the right path. Right around the corner was the source of all that smoke in the air, swirling around like a tornado. The troll braced himself, trying to get ready for what lay beyond it, and rounded the corner.

He had failed to brace himself enough. A gaping hole in one of the facility walls showed where the debris and smog had come from. The gash began in the second story, revealing the barren room within, and was slowly snaking its way down to the ground, bits of cement and brick continuing to break away in the wind. Bodies lay scattered in the wreckage, unconscious, but still breathing; the few remaining humans who were on their feet unsure of what they should do.

In the center of everything was John. His black hair swirled in the twister he had created and his clothes were billowing. For a fraction of a second he appeared to be wearing his god tier clothes, but Karkat blinked and the blue outfit was gone. He didn't seem to be doing anything but standing while the winds wreaked havoc on their surroundings. Just what had those monsters done to him?

The troll tugged the hood of John's sweatshirt over his horns and approached the cyclone. One of the humans yelled at him to get back, that they had hit him with something called "tranquil eyes-er," but he ignored them. The human's blue eyes were visible as he drew closer, and Karkat noticed they were unfocused, not concentrating on anything, his mouth slightly open.

A sudden gust of wind blew his glasses off the boy's thin face, causing them to vanish somewhere inside the storm, and seemed to knock him off balance. A chunk of cement hit him in the head and John fell to the ground, where he lay there, unmoving. The whirlwind weakened slightly, the tendrils of air spiraling outward, expelling more debris as they went. Their strength weakened and Karkat found he was able to move forward towards the heir, which meant the other humans could as well.

Being stronger and faster than the average human, Karkat reached where John lay before the others got there and held him, hoping that he could shield the boy from whatever these men wanted to do to him.

As Karkat came nearer to the human the winds pushing him backwards grew stronger again, as though they sought to protect their master. Bits of metal, glass, and other painful crap hit him, cutting his face and clothes but he continued walking. Two yards away he had to start running in order to avoid being blown away. A chunk of cement hit him in the forehead and he felt the trickles of blood slide down onto his face. He could see John's face clearly now, his blue eyes were unfocused and he didn't seem aware of what he was doing. The troll put forward a burst of speed and broke through the wind barrier into the eye of the storm.

It was eerily quiet, the roar of the winds outside blending into white noise. He approached John, trying to staunch the flow of blood from his own brow. The human didn't even seem to notice he was there; he was lying on his back, staring at the sky dazedly. Karkat took one step forward, then another, no reaction. John was simply oblivious to everything around him, but the troll noticed the tears streaming down his pink cheeks.

His pumping organ hurt, it hurt to watch the person he cared so much for suffer like this. The troll surged forward, wrapping his arms around John, who passed out from sheer exhaustion. The winds didn't stop howling though, instead they were let loose, as if they had been held back by sheer force of will and now that was gone. All the energy that had been contained exploded with the force of a bomb and destroyed everything they could.

Karkat knelt in the midst of it all, clutching John to him and attempting to shield him from the destruction encircling them. He kept saying the human's name, hoping to shake him out of whatever those freaks had done to him. He was not losing John now. He had made it through that horrible game, through losing his memories and having them painfully returned; he had not only accepted the troll's feelings for him, he had returned them. Things had been going well, and Karkat wasn't going to let everything that had happened go to waste.

John's pumping organ sounded funny, well, funnier than normal. Karkat had heard the thumping noise it usually made when they had fallen asleep together, a slow, dull sound that nonetheless was comforting. Now it was frantic, beating wildly beneath the troll's fingers. He didn't know what to do; he didn't know how humans worked, or how to fix them if they were broken. All he could do was hold on to the human as the world seemed to tear itself apart. His head was hurting from where it had been cut, and he was starting feel the effects of blood loss. His surroundings were twisting around him and his head felt foggy. The last thing he remembered was the winds stopping and several floating figures coming towards him.

Dave was pissed.

He'd wanted to act like the hero and rescue John dramatically and with enough badassery to make a few headlines. That had gone awry when Karkat had dashed onto the scene, forgetting the plan he had only been grudgingly allowed to participate in. When all this shit was dealt with he was going to make Rose give that asshat a talking-to. She'd proved herself over the years to be a pro at giving them, and annoyed everyone she knew at least once when it was their turn to be on the receiving end.

Dave had received more than enough lectures since becoming Rose's friend, and they had only increased in number after learning they were siblings. In fact, he'd gone out of his way to avoid her when she was in certain moods because he knew that regardless of whether he'd done anything or not, he would be in for it.

He'd been remembering how his Knight of Time powers worked, and with hours of practice that left him as weak as a newborn he was gaining more control over them. He could jump back and forth between 24 hours as he pleased, but no farther in either direction, and he made sure to jump back to the present soon after so no other Daves would be left behind to cause trouble or freak innocent bystanders out. He also could stop time for several minutes, and fly like other god-tiers do, but apart from those few things, he was powerless. It wasn't as if he could use a sword against government agents. This wasn't sBurb, and those were humans down there. Stupid humans, it was true, but still, it'd be murder all the same.

Murder. Just like what had happened to Bro.

Dave knew he could never do that to someone, not after all the shit he'd gone through.

Anyway, he and Rose had been in the process of locating John when the tornado appeared, like a beacon or one of those GPS things saying "Here I am! Come and find me!"

The two of them had flown over, dodging debris and gusts of wind that threatened to knock them out of the sky, and when they finally arrived at where John seemed to be they saw that Karkat was already there, having completely ignored the plan they'd so carefully laid out, and Dave started seething.

What did John see in that dick? All Dave thought of the angry troll was that he needed anger-management counseling, had a seriously weird interest in romcoms, and didn't do a single thing to contribute to any universe.

Whatever. He'd just have to remind everyone who the most badass person they knew was, and what he could do. He straightened his shades and landed on the ground like a fucking gymnast. More of those stupid FBI guys were coming into view, drawn, as he had been, by the noise and commotion. John and the asshole were unconscious, lying next to each other in the grass. The troll had a long gash on his forehead that was oozing blood, and John was pale as death. Dave had to get them out of here fast, or those agents would take them both into custody.

So he did the only thing that made sense at that moment.

He stopped time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What? A new chapter after like, four months? No way!
> 
> Yeah, here you go. I've been dealing with a lot of stuff, HSO, family staying for a week without knowing they're not wanted, summer courses, con prep, and friend troubles being the most recent ones.
> 
> Oh, and writer's block, that too.
> 
> But here is your chapter, all shiny and new. Enjoy.
> 
> Oh yeah, for anyone in Northeast US, I'll be attending Connecticon next week. So, if any people are going who like this, um, nevermind I'll shut up now.
> 
> \--  
> 4/13/13  
> I have not given up on this fic, I promise.


	14. In Which There is an Update

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long. I'll put more notes at the end.

It was as if he was dreaming, everything that had happened was just one big fat dream, a dream where he found someone who filled that huge empty hole inside him and he didn't feel hollow anymore. He was happy, even though he had gotten some painful memories back; Karkat was with him, and as long as John had him he knew everything would be alright, no matter what.

Then the dream became a nightmare, he and Karkat were forced apart, by work, by the appearance of some other trolls, and worst of all, by John himself. It didn't matter that his intentions were good, that he had only been thinking of protecting everyone, he has still pushed the person closest to him away; and whether or not things would ever be the same again was unknown.

The one thing he recalled from the end of the dream was when the winds swirled around him like a tornado, bits of stone and dirt caught inside the funnel; but he couldn't see what was going on around him, his glasses were gone somehow. From somewhere nearby he heard the sounds of sirens and people shouting, but one voice in particular stood out to him because it sounded different from the others. Concern? Was someone yelling because he was worried about John, rather than angry about the building or scared because they didn't know what was going on?

His whole body was numb, his head spinning, any second he would no longer be able to stand, then who knew what might happen? John was barely keeping the winds under control, they wanted to surge out and cause chaos, but they couldn't be allowed to break free.

He recalled studying the Odyssey back in middle school, and the gift Aeolus had given to Odysseus, a bag containing all the winds except the one he needed to guide him home. His lands were within sight when his crew opened the bag, thinking there was treasure inside, and the gale that was released took the boat back to Aeolus's island. His own bag of winds was threatening to break open, and, just like in the myth, bad things would happen.

Out of the corner of his eye the Heir saw something large and gray fly at him, and a crippling pain spread throughout his skull as his legs gave way and he fell backwards, landing hard on the grass and moaning.

A few feet away John saw a dark figure approach him, but just who they were was unknown, their shape too blurry to make out without his glasses on. Even if he could see whoever it was drawing near him he wouldn't be able to do anything of use, as his head ached from the strain of holding back the winds combined with the lump he'd just received moments ago. A face hovered above him, their black lips forming words he couldn't make out over the pulsing of his heart and the ringing in his ears, but somewhere in his foggy brain their features connected with a memory of safety and happiness. His eyes burned for some unknown reason and hot tears trickled down his cheeks and onto the grass below him, whoever this person was he'd missed them terribly.

A twinge of pain shot through his skull and the teen winced visibly as his grip on the winds slackened and they burst free from his control, his eyes shut tightly, his teeth gritted so he would not scream. The silence that had surrounded him shattered into a roaring, howling scream like the cry of a tortured animal and John felt exhausted, not having realized just how great a burden he'd been carrying until it was gone. He felt though he'd been hit by a truck after running a marathon, and it hurt, every inch of him hurt, his muscles were sore, his head pounding with every rapid beat of his heart.

Someone was holding him, cradling his limp body in their arms as they called out his name, whispering it into his ear like a prayer. Something hot dripped onto his face and he realized who was hugging him, it was Karkat, how many times had he heard his name said like that, like it was the most important word in any universe, for him to not recognize that voice when he heard it. It was the last thing he remembered before drifting into darkness.

_________________________

Even with his hazy memories and practice he'd done in the past week, Dave still felt uncomfortable for the first minute or so in a timestop. It was unnerving, standing in the midst of all those frozen people; like he'd been dropped into a maze of statues. But he was Dave-Motherfucking-Strider. Doing nothing was never an option, especially since he'd already stopped time.

First things first: get John and his douchebag friend out of here. He didn't know just how long the stop would last. He'd managed five minutes, ten minutes, never more than that; would it be enough? Both of them were unconscious, and he could maybe carry one of them, but both of them? He doubted it would be possible.

He had been too quick to make a decision, and in his haste to do something as his friend lay bleeding on the ground he had failed to think through just what he would do after time had been halted. Acting before thinking, a classic Strider fault, something his brother had warned against in all those practice fights of his childhood.

There wasn't any time to form a plan now, he had to do something while he had the opportunity, while there was no one to stop him or yell at him. Dave aimed a kick at Karkat's side, repeating the motion until the troll's eyes opened and glared up at him from the ground where he lay, his forehead bleeding.

"Get up, we haven't got much time," he demanded before a the troll had time to ask a question. "We need to get John out of here, can you walk?"

Karkat nodded and got to his feet unsteadily, wobbling slightly before giving Dave a look that implied he was waiting for further instructions. The coolkid walked over to where John lay in a crumpled heap and drew him up into a sitting position before slipping an arm under his knees and lifting him off the ground. An image of John in a wedding dress flashed into his head, despite the serious situation they were in, and he couldn't help smirking at the thought, recalling how what he was doing was nicknamed the "princess carry." It made sense somehow, as Dave was a knight, and he made a mental note to call John "your highness" after things calmed down.

He and Karkat walked in silence for several minutes, the only noise coming from the crunching of their feet over debris as they put more and more distance between the facility and themselves. A throbbing started behind his eyes and Dave knew he couldn't keep time frozen for much longer, but they weren't safe yet; they weren't out of sight from whoever had held John here. He had to keep going, no matter how much his head would hurt in the end.

"Why did they do this?" Karkat's voice snapped him out of his thoughts and brought him back to the present.

"You gotta give me more information than that if you want a serious answer dude. Who are you talking about?"

"The humans, why did they capture John? Why are they so obsessed with my kind?"

"I hate to break it to you, but humans are creatures that fear what they don't understand. To quote an awesome movie 'I remember how different became dangerous.'" It was true, even if it wasn't referring to the trolls, the world was becoming paranoid, jumping to conclusions even faster than he did and not even bothering to see if the facts matched up with what the people wanted to hear. Karkat and his friends couldn't have picked a worse time to land on Earth, if a regular person looked at them they would have two reactions, the first would be to think their gray skin and horns were some sort of strange new fashion trend, and the second would be to panic.

"Different doesn't always mean dangerous though."

"I know that, but most people refuse to give the time or energy needed to learn that lesson, you must have seen something of the sort back on Alternia, with your weird blood caste thing and how you're not on it."

The troll seemed lost in thought for several seconds before nodding. "That doesn't make it right though."

Dave grinned slightly as they passed into the trees and he let time go back to normal once more. "What's right and what's easy are often mistaken for each other. You should have realized that too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to give you a big, long chapter after my absence but I figured a shortish chapter is better than no chapter at all. This story should have only one more chapter in it though, and I definitely plan to finish it. It just may take a while.
> 
> Thanks for putting up with me!


	15. In Which a Story Ends

Pain.

Everything hurt, every single inch of him, from his toes to the top of his head.  
God, why did humans have to be built with so many nerve endings? Why couldn't they just feel only a certain amount of the stuff and then nothing more? John wished he could use his powers to cancel out the pain, but a part of him thought that the reason he was in this mess in the first place was from overusing his breath abilities in the first place. He wasn't doing that again, never, not once more.

The pain lessened slightly and seemed to be replaced by a tingling warmth throughout his sore muscles, and through this he could feel pressure on his legs, as though a cat was sitting upon them.

I don't own a cat though. He briefly wondered if Rose had brought Jaspers the 2nd to wherever he was now, and that was what caused the uncomfortable feeling, but as he shifted his feet in an attempt to move the weight off him he heard a voice from nearby call his name.

"John!" It was Karkat, the troll sounded happier than ever before. I guess he's a cat, sort of; I wasn't wrong. The thought brought a smile to the human's lips and he managed to force his heavy eyelids open. Then the Alternian was upon him, practically sitting on John's lap and had pulled the boy upright, his arms wrapped around the teen's neck.

"You're heavy," John murmured, returning the hug as best he could.

"Don't you ever do that again John Egbert. This is not a request, it's an order; I am not losing you again," Karkat's voice was slightly hoarse and when he pulled away there were dark bags under those yellow eyes that were visible even without glasses. "Not ever."

"Sorry about that, I didn't mean to worry you so much, I just... Wait what am I apologizing for now?"

The troll glared up at John before hugging him tight and laying down on the teen's chest. "I don't know;" he said puffing out his cheeks in irritation. "Maybe for letting yourself get kidnapped and leaving us to wonder what horrible things those humans might be doing to you? Does that sound familiar to you at all?"

"Sort of, yeah. It seems like a dream though, rather than reality. I'm not really sure what actually happened and what didn't."

"Lucky you, you didn't have to see the person you're flushed for in a state where they seemed like nothing more than a broken doll. You didn't have to wait by their bedside for days, even after Feferi used her life powers on them, wondering if they would ever open their eyes again. Being a moron must be a breeze compared to what I've had to deal with."

John's foggy brain didn't understand what he was hearing entirely, his head felt heavy and his thoughts sluggish. Processing what he was hearing took too much time and it was time he didn't have since Karkat clearly wanted some kind of response and "huh?" or "what?" didn't seem like they would satisfy him. He settled for "I'm sorry," hoping that it would be enough for now and wrapped his arms around the troll's torso, lying down on the soft mattress underneath him and closing his eyes. Karkat repositioned himself so his horned head was tucked under John's chin as the two of them fell back asleep in each other's arms.

\-------

"Hey! What is this shit?" Karkat awoke to the sound of not John's voice but Dave's. "Can you tone down the lovey-dovey crap for when I'm not around since it pretty much makes me feel like vomiting. I respect your choices and stuff, but man, sleeping while hugging each other is a bit cliched if you know what I mean."

"Shut the fuck up Strider, what did you come here for?" The troll didn't feel like putting up with any of the coolkid's nonsense when he felt so absolutely exhausted and lying here in John's arms was so nice. "Spit it out already."

"Maybe I won't tell you anymore, I mean, you are acting pretty rude right now when I brought such good news for the two of you."

"What is it Dave?" John muttered, one arm over his eyes.

"Nope, you ruined the mood, I have to start over." The teen left the room and shut the door behind him leaving its occupants to stare confusedly at each other for several seconds before the door was flung open once more.

"Hey! Jade and Rose got in contact with those goons from ACEND and basically threatened to do something even worse than your little cyclone if they ever bothered the trolls and you again. I guess your stunt left a pretty bad mark on their records and the government cut their funding, so everything is good on our end of things."

"That sounds too good to be true."

"It sounds like the plot of a bad book or something, but apparently they were already a small, underfunded division to begin with so they don't really have the authority of money to come after us again."

"That's fucking fantastic, now will you go away? We were having a moment here." Karkat sounded grumpy but it was just from being woken up from his sleep and from being interrupted.

"Fine, fine, go back to whatever you were doing you lovebirds, we can talk about the aftermath when you're done being cliched and awkward."

"Fine by me." Karkat told Dave, snuggling up against John, who was only half-awake.

"I'll give you an hour, enjoy it while you can." The coolkid left the room, making a disgusted face.

"One hour huh?" John mumbled into the troll's shirt. "What do you wanna do with it?"

"Whatever the fuck we want." Karkat replied, hugging his matesprit close. He would protect John from whatever came their way, because John was his everything, and he would never lose him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you have it readers, this is the end. I hope you enjoyed the story because I enjoyed writing it.
> 
> I actually had a dream that Homestuck updated last night, which inspired me to finish this before the comic ended. Just cuz.
> 
> Love you, my dear readers!


End file.
